What Makes One A Monster
by Dawning the Mask
Summary: An attack from a strange "person" changes Naruto in a way no one would think possible. We all hide our own monsters, but what if he can't? Rated M for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note**

**(4,289 words (not including notes) not bad for a first chapter. Please give me feedback, especially if you see something wrong. I'm trying to find a good Beta for this story, mostly for continuity and nonsense issues.)**

It stood there, looking through inky shadow as the cruel light slowly faded from the street corners and alleys, beyond the sight of men, waiting with the patience and diligence of a spider watching its web. It wouldn't be long before a little bug came into his net. But for now, it had to wait, had to watch for the light of day to recede into mountains to scorch the sand once more.

And while It lay in wait, It would and try to enjoy the overpowering scent of pollen and grass that seemed to cake the air around it. Why it had chosen this hunting ground was beyond the waiting hunter. It was almost as if something called to It, something that It somehow would become Its prey tonight. And if that was the case, It would eat, and It would eat well.

Hours went by in utter silence. No speech was heard. No footsteps were made. No breath drawn. For the longest time It waited there in a still silence, never wavering nor growing tired, almost like a statue. But before long, that silence was suddenly broken.

The quiet tapping of small footfalls echoed around the street as the prey approached its position, each step making Its palate salivate with each pad of foot to cobblestone. So anxious was It that It wished to jump from the darkness now and feast upon Its oncoming meal. But that would be foolish. To do something so risky, even if there was nary a soul within seventy paces, would be foolhardy and unworthy of Its effort. It would take but a single yelp from the prey to alert nearby plebeians that may be watching the prey from afar. True this thought was a paranoid one, but It could, nay, _would_ take no chances to be seen. No, It would not go to the prey; rather It would make the prey walk into its web as planned.

Its thoughts were stifled as the quiet steps grew louder as the prey came closer to the darkened alleyway, completely unaware of the danger that lurked within the shadows. It had taken a step forward in preparation for when the prey reared its head round the corner and walk past It, which would be soon since the prey was but four paces from sight.

And there it was; the prey, the meal. A small child about six or seven, thick spiky sun kissed hair and tan skin that made It lick Its teeth in child like glee. The boy had walked near the web, now he only needed to step in.

"You…" It whispered in a horse tone. The prey stopped in his tracks and looked about, searching for the source of the voice. "You…" It whispered again, this time adding a rough cough. This time the boy looked directly into the blackened alley, staring at a figure obscured by the shadows. He stepped back in fear when he saw something leave the dark.

From the umbrage came an arm that sent shivers up the youth's spine. The arm was thin and bent, almost looking like a dead, gnarled tree branch. The flesh was a dark shade of green with various boils, scars and burns decorating it. The crooked limb beckoned the boy towards it as the voice spoke once more. "Please… help me… I need…" It did not finish, instead keeping Its façade of illness strong.

The blonde prey took an unfirm step forward, his body and mind trembling in slight fear for what may come. But for reasons beyond him, the sickly person seemed to have a commanding, though dry, tone to them that almost demanded he follow its instructions.

"Come closer…" It muttered followed by another dry hack. "My sight… isn't what it… what it used to be." At this, the boy stepped closer, almost within reach. "Closer…" It whispered once more. And again, the prey obeyed, now stepping within arm's length, though he could not tell as the ill person was still hidden by shade. "Closer…" he took but one step before letting out a muffled yelp as he was plucked from the illuminated streets and into the darkness of Its web. "Step into my parlor." It said with a barley contained chuckle.

The boy was pinned to the rough floor of the alley, his eyes desperately searching for his attacker. But alas, his vision was taken by shadow and his senses were shaken from the sudden change in atmosphere and setting. He tried to let out a scream, but it was sadly muffled by the hunter's twisted green hand.

Said hunter leaned in close, inspecting its catch with the appetence of a starving lion. It felt the hum of the boy's futile cries between Its fingers and cachinnated. "Don't fight," It whispered into his ear. "You have been caught, take solace that you will be serving a greater good."

At that the sun kissed child hollered, making the hunter's dried cracked lips twist upwards into a grin. And that's when he saw it. How or why the boy did not know, but for a moment, he saw Its face. Flesh as green and twisted as its arm. Ears bent, cut into unnatural shapes, eyes separated and buggy, nose flat, almost looking as if it were sliced, and lips thin and smeared with dried crimson. But it was the teeth that drew his attention the most. Brownish yellow, misshapen, and most frightening, canines long and sharp, pressing against Its grinning lips.

The boy's eyes welled with hot tears of fright as he looked upon the ghastly creature, and soon, the darkness overtook the alley once more, leaving the boy in complete obscurity with the beast. He began to panic even more so than previously, kicking and screaming and swinging his arms about, praying that he could hurt or stop the monster that threatened him.

But his actions only made the creature smile more at the futility of his actions. And soon, that smile was pressed against the boys sweat covered neck, inhaling the sweet scent of flesh. Its tongue pressed against his neck, feeling for something important. It stopped on a lump and the creature's grin threatened to split Its lips as It moved Its mouth close to the vein. "Find peace in death…" It whispered as Its fangs sunk into the boy's flesh.

The blonde jerked when he felt the teeth enter him, the rough, almost stone like bones scrapped against his veins. He let out a howl of pain, muffled again by the hand that pressed against his mouth. The boy was scared, terrified that this was his end, that everyone he knew and cared about would be saddened by his death. He wanted to escape, but he was too weak, and as the monster continued to suck the blood from his veins, he became weaker. Soon his thrashing ceased, his hollers quieted, and his hopes of escape died. He just laid there, eyes half lidded as his time was quickly ticking away along with his slowing heartbeat. There was nothing he could do. He was just. Too. Weak.

…

"…_**..Get up you brat….."**_

Where that voice came from the blonde didn't know, but somehow it had given him back his strength. No. It had given him greater strength than he could imagine. The boy opened his now crimson eyes and glared at the creature that dared attack him. He grabbed Its wrist and carefully pried the gnarled hand off his lips and leapt from the hunters grasp.

To say the hunter was surprised would be an understatement. It thought It had succeeded in Its hunt, that It no longer needed to be watchful of interruption or consequence. But It was unfortunately wrong. "What's this?" It asked with mild irritation in Its voice. "How is it you have escaped my grasp?"

The boy did not answer; instead, he launched himself at the monster, his newly formed claws aimed to tear Its head off. The hunter dodged to the side, batting the preys head like a vexatious insect. The youth landed with a roll and jumped at the monster once more, this time cutting its belly with his claws. The child landed in a low crouch and looked fixedly at the strange black liquid that dripped from his fingertips.

Shrugging at the oddity, he licked his raven covered digits with gusto, smiling as the sticky salty taste made him only crave for more. He leapt at the hunter once again, only he was not as lucky in his third attempt. The monster grabbed his wrists with vice like strength and swung him round to slam into a brick wall. The boy's head hit the hard surface, bringing with it an intense pain as powerful as his anger. He snapped his eyes open and began to thrash about like beheaded serpent, trying desperately to get free, but the hunter had him pinned now, and was slowly closing the distance between them.

"You almost had me…" It said with a mock smile on Its horrid lips.

The sun kissed child mirrored the expression of regalement and whispered. "What do you mean, _almost_?" he bashed his head against the hunter's and used the space given to him to push off from the wall with his legs. He and the hunter went toppling to the floor with a thud. Now the boy was holding the monster down, staring into Its eyes much like It had done to him no more than minutes before.

The hunter growled at the boy, who returned the sound with a more ferocious tone. "What the hell are you?" It asked as It tried to free itself from the child's bewilderingly strengthened grasp.

The blonde didn't answer; instead opting to stare at the creature before him with his angry scarlet eyes. He looked at Its body, same as Its face and hands. Twisted green flesh varnished with lacerations, boils and bruises mangled into what looked like a hunk of gum that had been left to dry in the hot sun. And thin. Oh how It was thin. This creature had obviously not been given proper nutrition, nor had It been under any form of exorcize, as evident from the miniscule ribs that poked out Its sides, tightly wrapped in deformed skin.

Every centimeter of that hideous carapace disgusted the small child, making him crinkle his nose in repugnance as Its scent continued to tarnish his breathing space. He couldn't believe, _wouldn't_ believe that this _abomination_ tried to kill him. Looking at It now, the boy no longer saw a powerful, bloodthirsty nightmare that could bring the very Gods to their knees in sheer terror. No. instead he was now looking upon a sickly, weak, atrocious being that drank blood as if It were a drug. He no longer feared it. He pitied it.

All thoughts of escape and survival left his conscious mind as his distaste for the creature grew with his anger. He no longer wanted to flee from this thing. He wanted to watch it die. And as he raised his obsidian claws to the sky, he knew he'd do just that.

The thing in his grasp looked up at the tiny hand stained in murky blood and smiled.

A scream. A rip. A splatter. And silence.

The boy looked at his atramentous arm that extended through the green thing's chest, his hand scratching and digging at muscle tissue and bone as it hunted for the monster's still beating heart. His lips once again turned up in a malicious grin as he saw the look of horror on the creature's gnarled face, its eyes glazed over as pain wracked its every pore.

"I…" the creature whispered in a chocked voice. "I…have…"

The boy cocked his head to the side and leaned in closer to hear.

"I…have a ques…tion." It coughed. "Do…do you know…" It leaned Its head up a little to whisper in his ear. "Did you know you already tore past my heart, and are now just scraping at muscle tissue and cartilage?" It asked, a wide grin replacing Its horrified expression.

The blonde jerked his head up in surprise at the amusement in the creature's voice and looked at It with both anger and horror. And as if to further his confusion of the situation, his fingers suddenly began to scratch against something. It was a flat; gravely surface that was ice cold to the touch. It was the concrete beneath the monster.

The child's eyes widened in shock as he felt the hard surface and stared into the uncaring, almost amused eyes of the beast that he lay atop of, the sound of nails against concrete sending shivers up his spine. Soon his anger was replaced with slight fear as he desperately tried to retract his arm, only for the monster to grab it with Its free hand.

"No no." It said with Its twisted smirk stretching further up Its mangled face. "You had your chance, now it's my turn." With that said, the thing tossed the boy to the side, slamming him onto the hard ground now wet with Its shadowy blood. It hopped on top of the child once more and flashed Its razor canines, plunging them back into the child's neck.

The boy jolted in pain as the familiar pricks entered his blood stream and began to take his valued fluids once again. And just as he did last time, he attempted futilely to escape the monster's grasp. And again, he failed.

Soon the recognizable feelings of fatigue and pangs returned to the youth as everything was being drained from him. All his raw emotion that fueled him earlier was now dying out in equivalence to his blood. No longer did he want to tear the monster atop him apart. Now he wanted only to rest as he felt his eyelids become heavy again. And as he realized that he would meet his end here in this ally, the boy decided to take one last look at himself, before he went with Kami-Sama to heaven.

He let out a stifled squeal of discomfort as he moved his sore arm up to meet his ocean blue orbs. But as he looked at his blackened hand, the child noticed something odd. While it was difficult to see compared to the dark fluid soaking his limb, there was a small blotch of sanguine upon his anicubital space. Bringing it closer, he stuck his tongue onto the wet, fleshy surface and licked up his arm, letting the salty taste give him what would no doubt be his last meal.

And as the scarlet and inky fluids slid down his small throat, the boy finally felt his heart beat slow as he anticipated.

_Thump thump…thump thump_

_Thump..thump_

_Thump….thump_

_Thump….thump….._

_Thump….._

…_.._

An anguished sigh escaped a pair of old, dry lips as a certain elderly man stared into the blackened alleyway, a small battered corpse being one of its only occupants. The others in the ally were dressed in black cloths with grey armored vests, each wearing a white mask painted and shaped like various animals. His brow furrowed into a squint as he laid eyes upon the tuff of familiar blonde hair attached to the victim, causing his eyes to grow sore and wet.

One of the men in the ally was kneeling next to the body, his hand pressing against two holes in the young person's nape. With a shake of his head, the man, wearing a frog mask looked up to his partner and slowly picked up the corpse. He approached the old man, carefully handing the pale body to him. "Hokage-Sama…" sheepish eyes veiled by stone looked into the eyes of the leader, noting the sadness held beneath them. "It appears Naruto-San's blood was drained through two pricks in his neck from his Jugular."

The aged Kage nodded and looked down at the pale, peaceful face of Naruto Uzumaki, his lips turning further into a saddened frown at seeing one so close to him lay still and lifeless. _'The fact that the Kyuubi's Chakra hasn't healed the wounds is proof enough that he's gone…'_ He could hardly believe it was only minutes ago that he saw the headstrong youngster in his office, talking about his day in class and all the "useless" information given by Iruka, was now lying in his arms as dead as stone.

Turning his attention back to the ANBU member in front of him, the Hokage asked. "I thought Kuma was watching him, where is he?"

Kaeru looked to the rooftops as if searching for the person in question before shaking his head. "I'm afraid we've been unable to find him." He replied. "We haven't heard anything from him, and Neko and Gachou haven't found him yet."

"So the attack may have been planned." said the red robed Kage with a hint of anger in his tone. "And what of the black fluid staining the ally walls?" he looked past the Ninja at the thick, obsidian liquid that dripped from the brick walls.

The Frog Masked Nin shook his head once more. "We have yet to determine what it is, but Inu says it might be blood."

At that the old man cocked his head in confusion. "Blood?" he asked disbelievingly. "What kind of blood is black?"

Kaeru scratched his head while looking back to his partner in the Dog mask. "He says it smells like blood, mixed with tar and ash."

The Fire Shadow shook his head at the ANBU member and turned to look down the empty street. "Gather up as much as you can and bring it to the lab for storage. I will return Naruto to his home for now, then I must see to his burial plans…" he said, heading for the complex. The old man sighed as he said the last part, knowing full well that he would most likely be one of the very few to attend the funeral, while the rest of the town would be lit in celebration. Yes, they would dance and drink and shout in joy over the death of the "Demon of Konoha" as soon as word got out that he had died.

And what saddened him most about that fact was that he could do nothing to keep them from acting like such fools over something so saddening. The boy's father forbade him from speaking of his heritage to anyone but the boy and his Godfather.

That also reminded him of how he'd have to break the news to Jiraiya of his student's legacy dying before he had a chance to prove the forgetful village wrong in their accusations. He could already see the look on the Sanin's face when he would find out; sadness, followed by anger, then silence, just as he felt now.

The only solace that this situation gave was the knowledge that Naruto would no longer have to suffer the ire of the village again, and could finally rest. While that wasn't the most comforting thought, it provided the old Nin with _some_ relief.

Sighing in discontent, the aged Kage opened the door to Naruto's apartment. The scent of ramen, milk and salt filled his nostrils as he entered the small, dirty room. The area was littered with old ramen cups and milk cartons, giving the place a sense of rotting and decay. However, by now the old man had gotten used to the smell that seemed to emit from the very walls.

He stepped into Naruto's bedroom, which was slightly more cleanly than the rest of the apartment. Laying him on his bed, the old Kage let a few stray tears fall from his wrinkled cheeks and onto the bright blonde hair that was now matted with dirt and possible black blood. The small salty droplets ran through the youth's hair and down his face as the Hokage quietly wept above.

Wiping his eyes with his arm, the Fire Shadow rose his head and turned to leave, but not before lovingly tussling his surrogate Grandson's hair. "Goodbye Naruto Namikaze…" he whispered as he began to walk away.

_**SMACK!**_

The Hokage's heart stopped beating for but a second, and his breath was cut off within his dried throat. His mind numbed, eyes widened like saucers and blood ran stone cold as he felt an icy, strong, small hand grip onto his bony wrist with vice like strength. He stood stock still as a lump began to grow in his throat the size of his fist, skin shivering like it was exposed to ice water.

The elderly man slowly turned his head around, his ears hearing the creaking of his neck every inch it turned. When he saw the source of his sudden jolt of fear, his eyes widened more, almost feeling as if they would begin to bleed from torn flesh. But who would blame him, since what he gapped at was something most shocking, if not frightening.

On the bed sat – not laid, but sitting up – Uzumaki Naruto. His flesh was whiter than when the Hokage last looked at him ten seconds ago, and seemed to become paler as the seconds went by. His eyes were closed but showed signs of awareness as the eyelids shuddered every now and then. But his hair; that was what drew the most attention from the Kage. The boy's once bright and yellow hair was turning dark and dry, small locks even began to fall off his head as more time went by.

Sarutobi turned his entire body around to face the boy who was now sniffing his arm with a strange interest that could only be described as hunger. And before he could say something, the six year old opened his mouth, revealing a group of razor sharp fangs that dripped with hungry saliva, and sank his face into the old man's wrist.

The Fire Nin jumped with both surprise and fear as a sharp pain came from his Ulnar Artery. Meanwhile, the blonde turning brunet boy seemed to be enjoying the experience as he drank the life giving fluid from his Grandfather figure, stopping his sucking to lap up small droplets that escaped his lips.

Snapping to his senses, Sarutobi pulled at his captured arm… only for Naruto's teeth to tear a larger hole in his arm. The Kage began to panic as more and more blood left his veins and entered the small boy. He tried to once again retrieve his arm, but it was to no avail as Naruto seemed to have a vice like grip on the limb.

"N…Naruto…" he whispered through clenched teeth. "Let go of me… PLEASE!" as much as he didn't want to, the old Ninja was forced to use Chakra. Focusing on the area that the blonde was attacking, Sarutobi felt the blue energy strengthen his muscles, and with a quick yet strong yank, his hand was free from the child. Working quickly, the Kage pulled from his pockets some gauze and white cloths that worked quite well against his wound, though he would need to have it examined at some point for infection.

Now that his wound was looked after, Sarutobi returned his attention to the now alive boy that lay on his bed, his eyes still refusing to open. But the fact that he wasn't looking at him didn't bother him, not when the blood, _his_ blood was smeared all over the youth's face. However, before he could move, Naruto let out a quite, but audible squeak.

The squeak soon turned into a squeal, then into a louder scream, and finally, a horrid screech as his body was wracked with pain the Kage couldn't possibly comprehend. Naruto lashed about, tossing his arms and kicking his legs as his body began to go through physical hell. His blood felt like it was boiling within his veins to the point that large red blotches began to appear all over his flesh. His hair, or what little there was as there was but a few black locks left on his head, curled and shriveled into dust. The boy's skin started to bubble, some flesh and blood pockets bursting and spattering crimson onto the sheets and walls. But the worst feeling and sound that escaped him was the cracking of his bones as they churned within his body and bent and snapped in order to contort him into an unnatural shape. Naruto let out one final shriek as his eyes shot open, revealing two blackened orbs that looked to the heavens as if begging for the pain to end. And it did. After all his lashing and screaming and shivering, Naruto stopped moving as the unbearable pain subsided, and let a relived breath escape his cracked lips.

Meanwhile, Sarutobi was backed into the corner of the room, eyes wider then he thought possible and fixated on the once blonde body that lay stone still on a small blood soaked mattress. The lump that had formed in his throat finally slid down his esophagus as everything became dead silent, and he hoped the madness was finally over. Of course, looking at Naruto's physical condition indicated that it had merely begun.

Speaking of which, the small boy seemed to be showing signs of living, if his rising and falling stomach was any indication. Said boy slowly sat up, cringing as his hands made a squishing sound against the sanguine bed. He turned his head to face the frightened old man who he had considered a grandfather.

"_Jiji…"_ he called in a dry, cracked tone that sent shivers up the Fire Shadows spine. _"I…what…please help me… please… help me…"_

**Authors Note**

**(Yeah… I know anyone with the slightest hatred for the Twilight series will want to say how this is going to suck, but I'd like to inform those people that I plan on taking this story seriously, i.e. Naruto will be the opposite of Edward Cullen. Consider this to be like Daybreakers, the anti-Twilight. Of course the actual "rules" to this story's Vampires will be either discovered by Naruto, or told. Anyways, feel free to give criticism or praise.)**


	2. Chapter 2

Darkened eyes stared pleadingly towards the old man before them, dried tears slowly flaking off his face as he blinked, vision blurred to an incoherent mess of colors and patterns. _"Jiji…"_ he whispered in the worn tone his voice had now taken on, a voice that sent shivers up his spine as they were forcefully choked out. _"Help…me."_ He raised his right arm up and reached out for the man that stood only a few meters away; hoping, preying, he would heed his calls for help.

But instead, the man just sat against the wooden corner, eyes wide and fixed on Naruto's face. His vision was slowly coming back to him. Shapes and colors began to match up and fit together in their proper order and the cloudy gunk that obscured his sight crumbled onto the hardwood floor. Soon he was able to make out the figure that stood in the corner of his room, and while it hurt to have his grandfather figure ignore his cries for help, it was his facial expression that hurt him more. Lips slightly parted and teeth somewhat visible and shaking, nostrils flared as if inhaling something awful in the air and eyes opened wide with the pupils shrunken down to the size of pinpricks. It was an expression he had seen from only a few people, but was well acquainted to. Fear.

He had seen it in the faces of children whose parents called him a monster. In the faces of the civilians too frightened to yell or torment him. But mostly he saw it in the mirror almost every day as he feared leaving the safety of his home to enter the unforgiving streets of Konoha.

And oh how he disliked that emotion at this exact moment, and would most likely continue to hate it if it caused his loved ones pause for thought before helping him when he desperately needed it, especially if those people were like family to him. That very hatred seemed to boil in his mind the longer he watched the Hokage stare at him the way he did, as if he were some sort of…

Naruto opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off when he heard something hit the floor. Looking down, the once blonde boy saw a small white square on the hardwood floor. It was only when he went to lick his dry lips that he understood what it was. His bicuspid! One of his teeth fell out. Before he could give off the proper reaction to losing a tooth so quickly, he heard another sound like the last one, and like before, there was another tooth lying on the ground. Naruto quickly clamped his jaw shut, his teeth tightly clenched against each other. _"Jiji…help me!"_

Sarutobi still sat in the corner of the room with the fearful expression that had been plastered on his face for the past… well, it felt like hours, but he had no idea how much time had passed, nor what his lack of movement was doing to his surrogate grandson's young mind.

"_Help me!"_ Naruto hissed again, but as before, he received no answer. _"Jiji!"_ no answer. _"Hokage!?"_ still nothing. By now Naruto was at his limits with the old man staring at him as if he were some horrid monster from a children's tale. And so, in a louder, more guttural tone, the boy yelled as loud as his little lungs could muster. _"__**SARUTOBI!**__"_

Said man jumped to his feet as he was snapped from his trance, but immediately looked down as something's hit the floor. For, as he shouted, Naruto had forgotten to keep his mouth shut, and he immediately regretted forgetting it. Onto the floor rattled dozens of tiny white teeth with nary a drop of blood or saliva stained upon them. The blonde boy gasped in horror and slapped his twisted hands over his now empty mouth and let out a quiet, muffled scream.

Seeing this, Sarutobi's mind began to race with thousands of questions, most being summed up to "What the hell is going on!?" But seeing as Naruto was obviously in trouble, at least more so now anyways, he pushed the questions that ran through his mind aside to try and help the boy. Sarutobi took a step towards Naruto, clearing his throat to gain his attention, though from the way the boy was staring at him he already had it. "Naruto…is that…" _'Damnit!'_ he thought. _'Stop staring and help him!'_

"_Jiji…"_ Naruto said in a more quiet, albeit rough, tone with his hand once again reached out to the Hokage. _"My body…it hurts!"_

Sarutobi took another step forward, his left hand raising slightly as if he was going to reach out for the boy. "Where does it hurt?" he asked a bit more calmly.

"_Everywhere!"_ cried Naruto, shoulders shaking with both fear and shock as his body was hit with another pang.

After taking another step, Sarutobi was before the boy, within arm's reach. And yet, he couldn't raise a finger to him, as the fear kept his arms as still as wood. "Naruto can… can you stand?"

Naruto wiped the tears from his torn cheeks and looked up at the Hokage with frightened eyes. _"I…I'll try."_ He said, pressing himself from the sticky red mattress. The boy let out a pained hiss as another agonizing jolt was sent up his arms. It took him some time to slip his way off the bed and onto the floor. Naruto's head jolted up to meet Sarutobi's when the icy floor met his feet, forcing a small yelp from the child, and causing him to retract his feet. _"Th… the floor's too cold Jiji…"_ he whispered.

"Oh…ok then just… just hold on Naruto." Sarutobi said, cursing under his breath for being unable to move out of fear. _'I have nothing to fear, this is Naruto, _Naruto!_ And he needs my help!'_ with this thought, Sarutobi removed his white robes and wrapped Naruto up. He froze in his movements for a moment as he felt the boy's skin. It was like touching wet, torn leather as cold as frost; it reminded him of how a cadaver felt after drowning in ice water, which in his life was something he had the misfortune to feel once or twice. But he could not let these horrid sensations of disgust and fear keep him from aiding his surrogate grandson in his time of need.

Sarutobi carefully lifted Naruto off of his bed, placing him bridal style within his arms. He was surprisingly light, despite his size, as if he were carrying a training dummy… or body that had lost a few limbs. He shook the morbid thought from his mind, now was not the time to think of such things. As he approached the window, Naruto let out another cough, spattering flecks of blood onto the Hokage's robes, making the boy look up at Sarutobi with an apologetic look in his dusky eyes. "It's ok Naruto." He said as he hopped onto the window's ledge with a slight grunt. "Just try to hold on, alright?" He received a nod from him.

After opening the window, he leapt to the roof tops with a grunt, his hold on Naruto not faltering as he held him close to his chest, almost like if he let loose for a second the boy would be plucked from his arms. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt as if Naruto would die any second if he were not careful. It was a strange thought indeed; however, tonight had proven time and again to be very strange already.

Naruto meanwhile had his mind focused on something else, namely the quick, steady beat of Sarutobi's heart. He had his twisted ear pressed to the old man's chest plate armor, listening with piqued interest at the rhythmic thump that rattled against the old ribcage like drums. Out of curiosity, Naruto pressed his hand against his own chest to check his heart beat and see if it matched Sarutobi's.

…

…

…

Nothing…

Naruto's eyes widened as he felt no beat, heard no drums banging, no rhythm, no rattling ribs, _nothing_. This naturally frightened the child as he knew that people should have a heartbeat, otherwise they were… _"JIJI!"_ Naruto screeched.

Sarutobi nearly felt his heart leap out of his lungs when he heard Naruto scream. He almost stumbled onto the roof of an apartment building, his feet skidding on the graveled floor as he quickly opened the bundle of white robe to check if Naruto was still breathing. Thankfully he was, but it was in quick, unnatural huffs. He also noticed Naruto was gripping his chest plate like it a life line. "Naruto? What's wrong?" he asked, trying to keep his composure before the boy in hopes to give him some form of comfort.

Naruto's eyes looked like they were welling up as he looked down at his chest. _"Jiji… I…I can't feel my heartbeat!"_ his murky eyes let a few drops roll down his face… though instead of a clear liquid, two thick black drops of… something fell down his cheeks.

Sarutobi ignored this and opted to place his hand onto Naruto's chest to see if what the boy was saying was true.

…

…

…

Nothing…

He resisted the urge to retract his hand, and slowly removed his palm from Naruto, forcing on a confidant face. "Naruto, we'll look into this when we get to the hospital, but for now I want you to try and rest. Ok?" Naruto wiped his eyes with his arm and carefully nodded, pulling the robes back around him.

It was at this time that three shadows appeared from thin air before Sarutobi, the bodies forming three kneeling people, all wearing armor and clothes as black as night. One raised his head, revealing a white dog mask. "Hokage-Sama, we noticed you running from Naruto-San's apartment, is something wrong?"

Sarutobi sighed, turning to face the direction of the hospital, keeping Naruto's face obscured with his robes. "Inu, Neko, follow me; Kaeru, get to my office and be ready for my return." The response he received was a chores of "Hai!" as one of the men disappeared while the other two figures remained behind. He steadily moved towards the hospital's direction and continued leaping, the two figures following suite.

Naruto remained as quiet as a mouse within the robes as he was carried, his eyes staring up to the still face of the Hokage as they moved. He placed his hands back to his own chest in hopes that his heart would start beating again. No such luck. He remembered what Iruka said in class once; it was one of the rare times he was able to pay attention. He talked about how some ninja would fake death by slowing their heart rate, or using Justus that slowed their heart to the point where it would have seemed to have stopped. But he was not using a Jutsu to do that. He wasn't trying to fake death by slowing his heart rate. He _had_ no heart rate. But… that would mean he was dead. Thinking back, he remembered being enveloped in darkness as that strange… _thing_ drank his blood. He recalled everything being pitch black for what felt like days, and when light finally came to before him, it was that of the moonlight reflecting off the Hokage's robes.

Naruto shivered as he remembered what he had done next. Snatching the Hokage's hand like a loaf of bread, digging his canines into his wrist and drinking from his veins with the speed and hunger of a rabid dog. He recalled the taste of the red fluid; like warm liquid copper, salty, yet very oddly addictive. He remembered how Sarutobi had to rip his hand from him, which strangely filled Naruto with an underlying sadness for losing the meal. He shook his head at the thought. Meal? _Meal?!_ What on earth was he thinking calling _that_ a meal? What he did was sick, depraved, and unnatural; and to call it of all things a meal was even more unnatural…and yet, he couldn't rid the thought in the back of his mind, the thought that longed for another taste of the addictive scarlet fluid once more.

Thinking back on the previous subject in hopes of forgetting such thoughts, Naruto began to contemplate what he knew already. First, he had his blood drained until his heart felt like it stopped, or did stop. Next he awakened in his bed and did something… bad to his surrogate grandfather. After that, his body heat began to rise to unimaginable temperatures, and his skin started peeling and falling off, followed by a deafening silence. And now, he had no heart beat. The events were, without trying to overstate the obvious, odd. However, the knowledge of his heartbeat brought with it an undesirable thought that refused to remain dormant within his mind, the thought that Naruto was no longer of the living.

Looking up to the stern face of Sarutobi, Naruto opened his mouth in an attempt to state his concerns; However, he was silenced when the Hokage shot him a quick glance, one that seemed to request, not demand, that he remain silent until they reach the hospital, which he would try to oblige.

The rest of the journey was taken in sullen silence save for the sound of feet sliding against the gravel of rooftops. Soon enough the hospital was within sight of the three ninja, and Sarutobi began to slow his pace as he entered the front doors, making sure to wrap Naruto's face further within his robes.

"Hokage-Sama!?" exclaimed a nurse. "What are you doing here?"

Sarutobi looked down at the swaddled child and back to the nurse. "I need to see Dr. Tetsuda. Now," He said in a way that seemed more like a command than a request.

The nurse nodded and ran off the get the doctor, looking back only out of curiosity. After a brief moment of silence, the nurse returned, pointing down the hall she came from. "He's in room 108, on the left."

Sarutobi nodded and began walking down the hallway, keeping an eye on the child within his arms. As he approached the room the man in the dog mask stepped forward, trying to look at the bundle within the Hokage's arms. "Hokage-Sama, if you don't mind my asking…"

"I do actually." Sarutobi interrupted. "For now, please keep guard outside the door, both of you." He received nods from the two and turned to enter the door.

Inside, next to a bed sat a man in a sterile white lab coat with a black tie tucked underneath; the words "Dr. Tetsuda" were embroidered on the left breast pocket of the coat. He had long brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail. He gave Sarutobi a worried look as he rose from his seat. "Hokage-Sama." He said with a bow. "I was told you wanted me?"

Saurtobi nodded, walking to the bed and gently placing the bundle of robes down. "There's been an….incident with Naruto." He said as he began to remove the robes. Naruto reacted to this by tugging on the cloth as hard as he could, covering his face with what little he could take. Sarutobi stopped and turned to the doctor, giving him a stern look. "What I show you does not leave this room, do you understand?" The doctor paused for a moment, trying to figure out what this was about, before nodding. He looked back to the robes and put on a fake smile. "Naruto, this is Doctor Tetsuda. You remember him, right?"

Naruto refused to look, but nodded as he recalled the name. The doctor had patched him up during some of his rougher tussles with the other students at school, and occasionally aided him when he was ill. Still, he did not want to remove the robes out of fear of the doctor's reaction. He didn't want to see the look Sarutobi had given him again, he didn't even want to remember that look.

The Hokage let out a long, drawn out sigh as Naruto continued to refuse cooperation. "Naruto, how is the doctor going to be able to help you if you're wrapped up like this?" he asked.

Naruto paused momentarily, but returned to tugging and covering. _"I don't want him to see me Jiji…"_ he said in a near whisper.

"Naruto-San?" Tetsuda said, mainly to get his attention, though part of him couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the boy that he not only would need to be wrapped in the Hokage's own robes, but also caused his voice to become so horse and ragged. "Naruto, please, let me see you so I can help." He spoke in a soothing tone in hopes to lure the boy from hiding, though seeing as Naruto had yet to move, it did not work. "Please Naruto-San, I can't help you if you don't let me help you."

Naruto thought on this, and though he didn't like it, the doctor was right. _"You…you promise not to freak out?"_ He asked, moving some of his cover away.

Tetsuda let out a small chuckle and walked closer to the boy. "Naruto, I'm a professional. I don't "freak out." But if it makes you feel better, I promise I won't. Now, let's get these robes off you, ok?"

"…_Ok…"_ Naruto let his face poke out from the white cloth, and immediately regretted it. The lights of the room shone on him and his poor eyes unforgivingly with the intensity of the sun, blinding him and forcing out a pained screech. He quickly threw the robes back over his face to block out the light, his screech dying down as he was hidden by darkness once more.

Meanwhile, doctor Tetsuda had an expression etched onto his face that mirrored Sarutobi's when he first saw Naruto's appearance. The doctor stood in his place for a good handful of seconds before turning to the Hokage, attempting to mouth the obvious question.

Sarutobi, having now gotten more attuned to Naruto's new appearance kept calm, though he was worried what it was that caused Naruto to act in such a way. "Naruto?" he said, leaning in to peer into the robes. He almost wanted to chuckle when he saw a single black eye staring up at him in a way that was similar to a child asking if there were a monster under the bed. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

"_The lights… they're too bright Jiji…"_ Naruto replied.

Sarutobi looked to the still stunned doctor who was still attempting to wrap his head around the situation. "Lights please," he said plainly.

Tetsuda shook his head when he realized he was being spoken to. "…Hmm?"

"Lights," Sarutobi repeated, trying not to glare at the doctor for acting in such an unprofessional manor, especially after saying to his patient that he wouldn't react negatively.

Tetsuda nodded dumbly and quickly flicked the lights off. Though darker, the room was still quite well illuminated from both the lights of the town that shone through the blinds of the window, and the bright lights entering through the cracks in the door to the hospital hallway.

"Naruto," Sarutobi said, returning his gaze to the boy. "You can come out now, the lights are off."

The little black eye that stared up at the Hokage blinked as the harsh brightness was indeed removed. Naruto again unwrapped himself from the robes, this time happy to be able to actually see everything around him. One of the things he took note of was the doctor who was currently facing the light switch. _"… Tetsuda-san?"_ he called, somewhat frightful as to what expression the man held.

Doctor Tetsuda remained still for a moment, despite Naruto's call, trying to collect his thoughts. Before the boy could call again, he turned back around, stifling a gasp he desperately wished to take in. "W…well Naruto-san… you've certainly changed since I last saw you." He forced out a dry, awkward laugh as he approached the boy. "Now… let's take a look…shall we?"

Though it was painfully obvious that he was put off by his appearance, Naruto decided he would give the doctor a fair chance to try and rectify himself. _"Tetsuda … please help me…"_ he said, doing his best to make his voice seem normal.

The doctor turned to face Naruto with an expression of professional calmness that seemed real enough. "Though this is…abnormal, you are still my patient, and thus I will not react so…unprofessionally again, Naruto-San." He said as he approached the boy once more. "Now, let's see what I can do." Tetsuda got to work performing a basic medical exam of Naruto, starting with a simple scan of his body. Naruto was a little worried when the doctor's hands started to glow, but was reassured that it was normal. After scanning him with his glowing hands, he then moved onto weighing him. He had to pick the boy up himself as Naruto refused to touch the floor, but after placing him on the scale, Tetsuda was able to begin taking his notes, both written and mental. After that he took a look at Naruto's eyes; using a small light to see if they were working properly. This of course caused the boy to retract and hide under the robes on the bed again, and it took a few minutes for Tetsuda and Sarutobi to convince him that the Doctor wouldn't use any light to look at his eyes again.

Next he removed his stethoscope in order to listen to Naruto's nonexistent heartbeat, and then checked his nonexistent blood pressure. After that, he tested Naruto's reflexes, though seeing as the boy's leg remained still the entire time it was bopped with a tiny hammer, he then moved onto examining his ears. He tsked Naruto for not keeping his ears clean, which earned him a nervous grin from the boy. After that, Tetsuda decided to take a look at Naruto's throat.

"Alright Naruto-San, say "ahhh"." Naruto frowned at the idea of opening his mouth again, as all his teeth had fallen out, and he'd rather not know what would happen this time; however, seeing as the doctor was kind enough to help him with a good level of professionalism, he decided to oblige. Tetsuda smiled as he inspected the blonde's throat, as everything, beside the lack of teeth, looked normal. Cheeks, tongue, gums and throat were all pink and slimy; he even saw what appeared to be tiny teeth making their way out of Naruto's gums. "Well, looks like your teeth are growing back Naruto-San. I bet they'll be out and ready to chew in a few days or so," he said with his smile widening.

"_REALLY?!"_ Naruto asked excitedly. _"Can I see? I wanna see my grown up teeth!"_ he began to jump up and down on the bed at the idea of having gained his adult teeth before all his classmates. Say what you will about his awful situation, he still seemed to have his usual bounce back attitude.

Sarutobi coughed into his fist to gain the boy's attention. "Perhaps it would be best for you to see them another time… I remind you that your body has gone through some rough changes." He didn't like to put the boy down, but he knew Naruto wouldn't react well to his own reflection.

Naruto sunk in his place at the rejection, though he understood the reasoning behind it. He had seen his body and hands already, seen the twisted red flesh and scars that decorated him like a dark portrait. He had yet to see his own face, and from the looks he received from the two men before, it was not worth an immediate look.

"Well," Tetsuda said, attempting to regain their attention. "We're almost done Naruto-san, now I just need to take a bit of your blood and we'll be finished." He walked to the counter where an assortment of basic medical supplies laid neatly, taking from a jar a small case. "Now this will only hurt for a bit." Tetsuda turned back around to see Naruto had a strange mix of fear and anger etched on his face. "Naruto-san?" he said.

Naruto shook his head and looked to Sarutobi, new tears stinging his eyes in an attempt to come out. _"I…I remember what happened Jiji…"_ he said with a trembling tone. _"A man… a monster attacked me… and he…he…"_ Naruto placed his hand to the spot on his neck where the monster had sunk its fangs. He remembered the pain, the blood loss, the voice that made him strong, his fight, and then his defeat. And now it was all falling into place for him. He may be young, and a bit naïve, but he could make the connections. He lost a lot of blood, everything went black, and then he woke up but had no heart beat. _"I…I'm dead… aren't I?"_

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at this, drawing closer to the boy as he could see he was close to crying. "What?" he asked.

"_I'm dead… I have no heartbeat… my blood isn't pumping through me, and I remember everything going black… I'm dead, but not really…"_

"Naruto, that's ridiculous." Sarutobi placed a caring hand on the boy's shoulder in an attempt to try and calm him. "You're talking right now, you're brea…thing…" it was then that he realized that in fact, Naruto had stopped breathing. "Naruto?" he stepped in front of the boy to try to see if he was ok. _'Oh Kami don't tell me he…'_ his thoughts were stopped when Naruto looked up at him, a strange black liquid dripping down his cheeks as he shuddered.

"_See? I stopped breathing after Tetsuda-san weighed me… but I'm fine! I can speak as much as I want but I never once had to take a breath! I'm dead! I'm a cabbaver!"_ he was ready to let more tears fall when he received a surprise. Sarutobi pulled him forward and incased him and a tight hug.

"Naruto… don't you scare me like that… I thought… I'm so sorry that I failed to help you when you needed me most." Saurtobi said this in a somewhat shaken voice. He knew he was not supposed to show this kind of emotion before anyone, but with all the day's happenings, after all the news and trauma, this was the last straw. "Naruto, I don't care if you look different, or if you can't breathe and have no heartbeat. As long as you can talk, can think, as long as you're _here_ that's all that matters. Please, don't scare me like that, not ever again."

Naruto did not know what to think, his mind was buzzing and his mouth felt dry. He wanted to say something, but he was too stunned to do so. He opted to just wrap his arms around his surrogate… no, his _grandfather_ and cry. _"I… I won't Jiji, I promise!"_

For a few minutes, the two stood, and then sat there holding one another as if they were each other. Sarutobi was the first to break the hug and couldn't help but smile at Naruto. Before he was so hesitant towards the boy, nervous that he would do something like before and tear into his wrist. But those thoughts left him now. He was sure that the boy before him was the same Naruto he had watched grow, and he'd continue to watch him grow.

"Naruto," he said. "I know this is frightening, and that you feel lost and alone, but I promise you that we will get through this together. Understood?"

Naruto nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes with his wrist as he nodded. He was a little concerned when he saw a black liquid on his wrist, and on the Hokage's shoulder, but shook it off as he knew he'd know why soon enough.

It was now that Tetsuda decided to clear his throat to gain their attention. "Well… now that I have your attention Naruto-san, I'd like to take your blood."

"_Oh…ok I guess…"_

The needle hurt a little going into his arm, but that wasn't the largest concern. No, the largest concern to all three males was when instead of red, the container attached to the needle began to fill with a thick black liquid similar to the fluid that came from Naruto's eyes. Tetsuda managed to take a few milliliters of "blood" and remove the needle before Naruto could start moving.

"_Why is it black?"_ Naruto asked with a chocking voice, his throat felt as though it had built up a lot of flem after his crying spell. _"Isn't blood supposed to be red?... that creature had black…blood…"_ it was now that he felt a horrible pang in his stomach as he began to make the connections, and at the end he had but one question. _'Am I like the monster?'_ Looking at his body and hands, the resemblance was uncanny and all too simple to notice, he frankly didn't understand how he hadn't realized it before. His flesh was mangled like the monster. He didn't have teeth like it… but Tetsuda _did_ say he was suddenly growing new ones. He could tell from feeling his own face that it was not the same, definitely twisted in some way from the feeling his flesh had. And of course there was the incident with Sarutobi. The monster had drank his blood much like he had the Hokage's. All this was enough for him to jump to the conclusion that he was in fact, like the monster.

Saurtobi had made a similar connection. Though without all of Naruto's intelligence on what really happened, which he would need to get right away, he had nothing concrete. He did however notice the growing worry making its way back onto Naruto's face. "Naruto, remember, we'll get through this."

Said boy just nodded and removed the thoughts from his mind for the moment.

With yet another mental breakdown averted, Sarutobi walked with Tetsuda so they'd be out of earshot of Naruto, leaving him to ponder his situation. "So… how is he?" he asked.

Tetsuda looked at his clipboard and frowned. "I don't like saying it but in a way, Naruto was right. He is in a way dead." He paused when he received a glare from the Hokage and quickly corrected himself. "That is he is dead in a certain sense. He has no vitals, blood pressure, or brain activity. All of his vital organs have stopped working, which _should_ mean he's "dead"… but he's sitting right there," he looked over to Naruto who was wearing the stethoscope and talking into it and making odd sounds. "In all my years as a medical practitioner, I've never seen anything like this." Tetsuda handed the Hokage his clipboard, pointing to the different sections.

Sarutobi was doing his best to remain calm as he mulled over this information. Everything on the chart was quite precise, if hard to believe. He looked up to the doctor and then to the small vile of black liquid in his hands. "And what about his blood?" he asked.

"Ah, this?" the doctor held the vile up to the light to observe the strange contents. "I'll start analyzing it immediately and get back to you with the results as soon as I can. As for Naruto, I think it would be best if we kept him overnight, perhaps for a few nights to see if anything develops."

"Alright," Sarutobi nodded. "I'll make sure the two outside keep a close eye on him." He walked to Naruto who was currently using the stethoscope to listen to his tongue click. "Naruto," he said to gain the boy's attention. "You're going to stay here for the night while I take care of some things, ok?"

Naruto was quick to protest. _"What? But Jiji… I don't wanna be alone."_

"You won't be," Sarutobi said, placing a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'll have two of my best ninja guarding you. And if you want, you can have them come in if it would make you feel safe."

"_But…"_

"Naruto-San," Tetsuda spoke up. "Hokage-Sama is trying to help you, but he can't do it here. He needs to get to his office where he can handle everything better. You want him to help you, right?"

Naruto looked down to his increasingly interesting feet as he mulled what Tetsuda said. _"Yeah… but…"_

"And you know that if you need anything, all you have to do is press the button on the side of the bed and a nurse will come to help you."

"_But I don't want someone else to see me…"_

"Then here," Tetsuda reached into his pocket and handed Naruto a small hand sized white box with a tiny red button on it with the words "Press" written on it in faded text. "Just press that button and I'll come here as fast as my legs can carry me." The doctor let a calming smile stretch across his features as he pat Naruto on the back. "Besides, you're a tough little ninja, right?"

Naruto returned the smile and happily nodded. _"Yeah, I'm the toughest!"_

"And you're not going to let something like a few days in the hospital get you worried, are you?"

"_No!"_

"Then are you going to stick it out?"

Naruto pumped his arms in the air to accentuate his new found vigor. _"Yeah!"_

Sarutobi let out a soft chuckle at the spectacle before him. The good doctor certainly had excellent bedside manner, that or he was a little crazy, either way seemed to work for Naruto. Turning to leave, he made sure to close the door behind him quickly as to let no one see inside the room. He turned to the two ANBU and said in a more serious tone, "No one but me, Doctor Tetsuda, anyone he deems needed, and you are allowed to enter this room until further notice, understood?"

"Yes, Hokage-Sama," both ninja's said with matching nods.

Sarutobi nodded in return and left in a swirl of wind and leaves.

Back in the room, Tetsuda was preparing to leave when he felt a little hand tug on his coat. He turned to face an anxious Naruto who was holding the little white box tightly and close to his chest. _"You promise you'll come if I press the button?"_

Tetsuda smiled and pat the boy's head reassuringly. "I promise, Naruto-san. I'll even fight off a legion of evil monkeys just to get here!"

Naruto relaxed his grip on the box and smiled up at the doctor. _"You're weird Tetsuda-San."_

Tetsuda's smile widened a bit before he left the room. He stopped at the door and turned his head to Naruto. "Try and get some sleep, alright?"

"_Ok,"_ Naruto nodded.

The doctor nodded back and left the room, leaving Naruto with his thoughts. While he would like to get up to look out the window, Naruto remembered how cold the floor had been, and decided that he should rest until morning. After squirming beneath the thin white hospital blanket, Naruto allowed his mind to wander until he was finally taken by sleep's embrace.


	3. Chapter 3

The distant sound of flesh and bone rapping against wood caused Naruto to stir, his eyes slowly prying open to the thankfully darkened room. He turned his head to look to the window and was grateful it had large, thick shutters that blocked all sunlight from entering his room. Kami only knows how bright it was to him considering he couldn't stand the light from a glass bulb. Rising from his bed, Naruto took note that the sheets had somehow stuck to his skin, and were now covered in small dark blotches. He also noticed that he had yet to breathe since last night's events, which he imagined would make him look like a corpse from an outside viewer. He was calmer about the new turn his life was taking, despite the growing problems that he continued to meet on an hourly basis. Still, he always found a way to bounce back from most things, and though he couldn't stifle the niggling doubt in the back of his mind that told him his future was ruined, he knew Sarutobi would be there to help him when he needed him.

His attention was broken by the unwanted sound of rust scraping against metal, making an obnoxious screech as the door to his room swung open. _"Not so loud!"_ he called out bitterly.

"What do you mean by loud?"

Naruto shook his head when he heard the all too familiar voice and felt his lips turn up as he looked up to the Hokage. _"Jiji!"_ he said as he squirmed his way out from the covers, peeling the sheets off his skin.

Sarutobi winced seeing, and hearing, Naruto literally _peel_ the thin blanket from his flesh. Apparently some of the blood hadn't dried last night, and now the boy would need new sheets. That and a wash. "So, I take it you slept well," he said as he approached the bedside. He sat down on the side of the mattress, cringing as he felt his bones creek from the movement. It was a little too early in the morning for him to be up and about, but he'd be damned if he didn't at least pay Naruto a visit.

Naruto winced as he felt something scraping in his ear. _"…I had a good sleep… what was that sound?"_ Naruto asked, looking about the room for the source of the loud scraping noise that had thankfully ceased.

The Hokage quirked an eyebrow at the boy as he questioned, "What are you talking about? I didn't hear anything."

The boy gave him an incredulous look as he continued his search. _"It was sort of like a loud creeky noise… like… I don't know…"_ Naruto scratched his head as he tried to contemplate an appropriate simile for the sound. _"Kind of like stones rubbing together… I think."_

Sarutobi shrugged at the boy. Perhaps his age was catching up to him and his hearing was going. If that were the case, he'd need to speak with a doctor about this, but that would have to wait. "How are you feeling?" he asked, trying to change the subject from a topic that didn't seem to cause Naruto irritation.

"_Huh? Oh, I guess I'm ok. My skin doesn't hurt like it did yesterday, and I think the blood's dried now… but there's a loud thumping in my ear, my eyes feel a little itchy, my mouth is dry and,"_ Naruto prodded his gums, wincing when he felt a sharp pain, _"my new teeth hurt real bad…"_

Sarutobi sighed. Things just couldn't remain normal for a few minutes. "We'll make sure to look into this Naruto, we have all day to understand the situation." He pat the boy on the head as if to reassure him that things would be fine. Though in all honesty, he had no idea how things would turn out for the young ninja to be. While he had managed to come up with an acceptable cover up for the incident, it didn't mean everything would be completely fine. He paused for a moment when he realized Naruto was still wearing his shirt from the night before, though it was heavily stained red and stuck to his thin frame.

Naruto noticed what the Hokage was looking at and frowned. _ "Hold on,"_ he said as he peeled the shirt off and tossed on the foot of the bed. _"Much better."_

Their conversation was cut short when there was a knocking at the door. Sarutobi took note at how Naruto seemed to wince with each knock. "Just a moment. Naruto," The Hokage rose from his seat and carefully opened the door, making sure there was but a sliver of space between the door and its frame. "May I help you?"

"Hokage-sama," said a feminine voice on the other side. "You asked for us to give you a minute, said minute has expired. Sir, shall we come in?"

Sarutobi mentally rolled his eyes at Neko's almost incessantly punctual nature, opening the door a bit more. "Give me but one more minute," he said.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

He shut the door and returned his gaze to a confused Naruto. "Naruto, I would like three people to meet you," he began, though paused as he saw the boy grab the set of robes he had left the other night and hid himself under the white cloth. Sarutobi let out a sigh as he approached the boy.

"_I don't want anyone else seeing me,"_ Naruto protested. _"They'll be afraid of me like you and __Tetsuda__-san."_

"Naruto, I'm not afraid of-"

"_But you _were_! You were so scared of me you just looked at me like…like…"_

"I know," Sarutobi said, sitting next to the quivering mass of robes. "And I can't tell you how sorry I am for that. I know you're still the same boy you've always been. I know you're still the boy who glued Iruka's chair wheels to the floor, and spends most of his free time at a ramen stand." Sarutobi removed the robes from Naruto and looked the boy in the eyes, his lips turning in an understanding smile. "Naruto, these people are going to be protecting you, and I want to give you a chance to trust them with this. I understand if you'd rather wait until you're capable, or comfortable, with walking about the village again; however, I want you to trust these Ninja as much as I do so you will feel comfortable around them. If you want, I will tell them not to come in, but it is up to you."

There was another knock at the door, followed by the same female saying, "Hokage-sama, the one minute you requested has expired. Shall we enter?"

Sarutobi looked down at Naruto and smiled when he saw him slowly nod. "Enter," he called.

The door clicked and from the hallway came three ninja wearing protective grey vests over black combat gear. Each wore a stone mask with eye holes that were carved to look like animals. One of them was obviously female, if her long purple hair and chest were any indications. The other two were men, one taller than the other with silver hair poking out from the top of his mask. The woman wore a cat mask, the taller male a dog, and the other male a frog.

The female was the first to speak. "Am I to assume that this is Uzumaki Naruto?" she asked, staring blankly at the boy on the bed.

Sarutobi nodded and turned to Naruto. "This is Neko," he said. The woman gave Naruto a rather mechanical bow before standing straight and adjusting a few ruffles in her attire caused by the movement. Sarutobi then looked to Inu and said, "This is Inu." Said man bowed and gave Naruto a somewhat lazy wave. Finally, the Hokage looked to the last member. "And this is Kaeru." The frog masked man mimicked his female comrade by bowing in a more mechanical way. The Hokage turned to face Naruto once more and smiled as he spoke, "These are three of my most trusted ANBU members, one of which is a Captain. They will be taking turns to watch over you for a long while to keep you safe. So remember Naruto, no matter what happens, you won't be alone. If you are in the slightest danger, they'll come to your aid." He had to, of course, make his words simpler for the child. He hadn't the heart to say something like, 'They'll make sure you won't leave the village or attempt anything dangerous, things like that to make sure you don't die.' That was a large reason for their presence, the second largest being to watch what develops with the boy and his new "condition".

Naruto looked at the three ninja in both shock and wonder, the former being because he had never _seen_ an ANBU member, much less a Captain. He had to shake his head in order to regain himself before asking, _"Are…are you all really ninja?"_ a stupid question perhaps, but the only ninja he knew wouldn't give him the time of day, or they'd shoo him away.

Inu almost smiled behind his mask as he stepped forward and answered. "Yes we are, Naruto-san. We are some of the strongest." Were he more of a braggart, he would have puffed out his chest with evident pride. His smile wavered, however, when he noticed the strange intensity of Naruto's studying eyes that scanned over his entire body. If he didn't know better, he'd have said Naruto was taking mental notes.

Said boy had an expression of wonder on his face as he looked at the ninja. _'So cool,'_ he thought._ 'Iruka-sensei said ninja could do amazing things. I wonder what they can do…'_ Naruto leaned forward with his face brightening up with more excitement. "Hey, can you make big explosions, or-or… make lightening come out of your fists?!"

Inu hadn't expected the young boy to be so energetic and curious considering the circumstances, though he saw no harm in answering him. "Well, I can-" he was stopped, however, by Neko coughing into her fist, even though her mask kept any germs from spreading.

"I think that is something of a subject to discuss at another time, Inu," she drawled. Neko walked over to the bedside, though did her best to not intrude on the boy's personal space while she observed him. _'Skin, obviously burnt and severely scarred; it appears that some muscle tissue is visible, though in this dim light I cannot tell. Perhaps some sunlight will allow for a better observation.'_ She turned to open the blinds, forcing out a pleasant "Here, let's get some light in here." She never noticed Sarutobi reaching to stop her.

"STOP!" shouted Tetsuda from the doorway. He was, unfortunately, too late.

Minutes earlier, with Tetsuda …

Tetsuda let out another tired sigh as he leaned back in his chair. His dark eyes stared sleepily at the sterile white ceiling of the office as he continued to try and process the information before him. While it wasn't abnormal for him to pull an all-nighter for the sake of research, this experience left him mentally drained as he attempted to theorize a logical understanding of the situation and the information it gave.

In front of him was a rather large microscope that was firmly attached to the desk before him. Under it was a slide that held a familiar black liquid that shone in the device's tiny light. Next to the microscope were several slides, each holding the murky blood of a certain boy. He brought his hands up to his face to rub his poor eyes in hope to stay awake. _'This is all so… frustrating,'_ he thought as he looked back down at the slides. _'This "blood" is… not human. The blood cells are mutated beyond all belief, blackened and… lifeless.'_ It was unlike anything he had ever seen or heard of, and he thought he had read it all. He had read, and even seen a condition called Osteogenesis Imperfect, which caused a person's bones to be brittle and shatter easily. He'd even read about men who'd come back to life hours after being declared dead, and one story of a man born with scales! But in all his years as a medical professional, he had _never_ seen anything this odd.

Letting out another discontented sigh, the doctor stood to make his third pot of coffee. He was stopped, however, when Doctor Yasashii entered the room with two mugs of dark coffee. Tetsuda immediately wrapped his numbing hands around the hot mug, giving his colleague a joyous grin and a thankful bow. "Thank you, Doctor Yasashii," he said during his bow. "This latest sample has kept me up all night."

The other doctor gave Tetsuda an equally warm grin that soon fell into a confused frown. "You're still working on that sample from Hokage-sama?" he asked.

Tetsuda, not wanting to lie to the other doctor's face looked down at his black coffee that reminded him of the subject of interest, to a point that he didn't even want to take a sip. "It's just a hard thing to tackle… speaking of which, how's Mr. Chijin?" he asked in hopes of changing the subject to one less problematic to discuss. "He suffered a hairline fracture to his femur from a bar fight, right?"

Yasashii sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in clear annoyance. "Yes," he answered in a pained tone. "I swear that man just lives to get sent here. Last month he…"

Tetsuda took a seat to listen to Yasashii's complaints in comfort, though he mostly tuned the majority of what was saying out. He only resurfaced when he noticed the other doctor had moved to the window and was reaching for the blinds. "You look pale," said Yasashii as he grabbed a hold of the small chain that would draw the blinds. With a quick motion, the blinds were taken away, and sunlight bathed the room.

Tetsuda actually enjoyed and welcomed the new warmth provided by the ball of fire. He leaned back and brought his coffee closer to enjoy the smell of coffee beans mixed with burnt tar and decaying flesh… he also heard the sound of something close to him sizzling and releasing a tiny high pitched screeching sound. Snapping his eyes open, Tetsuda looked to the source of the sound and smell and jumped out of his seat. The samples, each of them, were frying within their glass slides. Black smoke billowed out of each sample like they were on fire. A great "woosh" was heard as the entire desk was covered in small flames that flickered about, all coming from the blood samples. The worst thing of all was the stench. It started with burnt tar and rotting skin, but it quickly added a dose of burning oil and mold. The scent made the doctor wrinkle his nose, and the other doctor was headed for a bucket.

"What the hell _is_ that?" Yasashii asked between choking coughs.

Tetsuda didn't answer, as he was too busy letting the gears run in his mind over what had happened, and what it meant. The blood reacted this way as soon as it was placed under sunlight. Naruto showed great distaste towards light the previous night. His eyes widened as it clicked in less than a second. "Shit!" He wasted no time bolting out the door with only a "Put out that fire, please," as his only parting words. He bound down the hallway, more than happy that it was somewhat empty, and headed towards Naruto's room at a speed he didn't know he could reach. As soon as Tetsuda had made it to the door, he swung it open in time to see an ANBU reaching for the curtains. His pupils shank as he reached out. "STOP!" he shouted from the doorway.

He was, unfortunately, too late.

The sunlight hit Naruto like a powerful Katon jutsu. He barely had time to react as the hot light seared his scarred flesh, causing his skin to bubble and split open, letting a thick black cloud of smoke emit from every surface that met the sun's cruel light. He opened his mouth and let out an ear bleeding screech of suffering as his eyelids cooked over his blackened eyes. Large pockets of blood burst from the bubbling skin, spattering the walls and sheets deep obsidian, sizzling in the light like bacon grease. His back arched as he felt his chest smolder and split open, releasing a large puff of smoke. Naruto tried to pull the covers up over his face to hide himself from the horrid light, but he no longer needed to as the curtains were quickly placed over the window and he was wrapped in the Hokage's robes once more.

Even with the sun's light snuffed out from the room, Naruto still began to burn and pop, although to a greatly lesser degree. The retched stench of both the burnt blood and Naruto's roasted flesh hung in the air, and the hissing coming from the boy's throat began to die down to a quiet whimper.

Sarutobi, who was standing before the fried boy with his robe covering him from any sunlight, turned his head to Doctor Tetsuda. "What… Tetsuda, what just happened?" he asked as calmly as his temper towards Necko could manage. He knew it wasn't her fault, she had no way of knowing that would happen. He actually blamed himself for not informing them sooner about Naruto's new detest towards light, but damnit, he was doing everything in his power not to throttle her for this.

The doctor clung to the doorframe like a lifeline, beads of frightened sweat sliding from his brow as he listened to Naruto's screaming die. It took him a few minutes to realize Sarutobi had been talking to him, and even then his words tripped in his explanation as he quickly closed the door behind him, thankful no one had seen this. "Sun… fire and the blood was… that is… it was…" he had to take in a deep breath, which he whole hardly regretted as his lungs were filled with the awful smoke that had leaked out of Naurto moments ago, forcing him into a short coughing fit. "He burns in sunlight," was his simple answer between coughs.

"I can _see_ that," Sarutobi said irritably. "What I want to know is _how_ that is possible?"

Again the doctor found himself without an answer, a problem he had become unaccustomed to in his years at the hospital. There was nothing like this in any of his medical books or records, nor had it been heard of by anyone working there; this was all too mysterious and, frankly, stressful for him to deal with after pulling an all-nighter. "It would be best if we allowed Naruto some time to heal from this incident," he said, using his wrist to wipe the sweat from his brow. "I'll get back to work studying those samples right after I sew up his… cuts, and assess the damage."

Sarutobi nodded, then turned his attention to Necko and the other two ANBU, the former looking both dumbfounded and ashamed despite the lack of showing facial expressions. "Out," he commanded calmly.

"Hokage-sama," Necko began, but was cut off by a wave of killing intent from the old man. She stopped talking and bowed low, then hurried out the door with her teammates to meet the small crowed that had gathered outside to see what had happened.

The Hokage sat next to the quivering, whimpering bundle of stained cloth for well over an hour. He never let the hold he had on the boy go, and from what he could feel, Naruto was holding him tight as well. It was only after another hour had passed them by that he decided to speak to the boy. He had to clear his throat, which earned him another frightened quiver from the bundle next to him. "Naruto-"

"_It still hurts, Jiji,"_ Naruto whined, shuffling a bit closer to him and tightening his hold just a bit.

"I know, Naruto." The Hokage sighed painfully and let another minute pass in silence. "Can… would you let Doctor Tetsuda look at your wounds?" he asked quietly.

Another minute of silence went by before Naruto answered. _"C…can I have five more minutes?"_ his voice sounded like he was on the verge of crying, and once again, he tightened his grip and shuddered.

"Of course you can Naruto," Sarutobi said, his voice cracking up a bit near the end. Instead of five, he let the boy have a good fifteen minutes before trying again. "Are you ready? Would you like another five minutes?"

"_It… it's fine, Jiji,"_ Naruto said calmly. He slowly moved the robes away, though he had to peel a good portion of them off his skin, each time he had to pause and wince at the pain as what must have been small bits of flesh tore off. Eventually, after what had to be another five minutes, Naruto managed to remove the filthy robes and tossed them aside.

Now that he could get a good look at Naruto's wounds without them being blotted out by columns of thick smoke, Sarutobi wished the boy was covered up once more, if only to save him the pain of seeing the scars that littered the boy's body. He was nearly covered in the black muck that rested lifelessly in his veins, and what wasn't stained was covered in cuts and lumps. There was a particularly large gash that went from his collar bone, which Sarutobi could _see_ a bit of, past his left pectoral and ending near his belly. There was another one atop his hairless head that went from his twisted right ear to the top of his head where it exposed a bit of skull. The Hokage's eyes welled up as he looked down at the damaged and bloodied boy who in turn looked up at him with dark, wet eyes.

"_Is… is it bad?"_ Naruto asked. He didn't receive an answer from the Hokage, so he turned to Tetsuda for an answer.

Said doctor managed to keep on a professional look of calmness. "You've got a few cuts and burns, but it's nothing I can't fix… how… are you feeling alright?"

Naruto shook his head and took hold of the hospital blanket to cover himself. _"My skin hurts a lot._"

"But you don't feel dizzy or sick?" he received another head shake. _'He lost a _lot_ of blood there… and yet he's feeling, besides the pain, fine? The mysteries just keep on piling up…"_ Tetsuda gave Naruto a reassuring smile as he went to open the door. "I'll be right back, I just need to grab some things." He quickly exited the room, leaving Naruto and Sarutobi alone.

Naruto looked up at the Hokage and wiped at his eyes, only to smudge more black gunk over his face. _"I'm never gonna be a ninja… am I?"_

Sarutobi cocked his head at that. "What makes you say that?" Granted, the boy was facing some serious challenges ahead if he did plan on becoming a ninja, like not being able to meet sunlight, but he didn't see any other reason why he couldn't try.

"_I can't go out in sunlight, I can't even stand regular light, and I look… my body is…"_ he was starting to choke up again and his eyes filled with more dark fluid; however, he was stopped when he received a reassuring hug from the Hokage.

"Don't say that," Sarutobi said, doing his best not to cry as well. "If I've learned anything in my time, it's that there's a way around everything, no matter how frightening or impossible the task may seem." He moved back and held the boy by his shoulders, staring him directly in the eyes. "If you really want to be a ninja, you can do it through enough hard work. But don't ever just give up, alright?"

Naruto finally managed to crack a smile as he rubbed his eyes again and nodded. _"Ok, Jiji,"_ he said. _"I'll work hard and become the best ninja in the world, I'll even be the next Hokage."_

Their conversation was halted when the door opened, which caused Naruto to clasp his hands over his ears once more, by Tetsuda with a small, black leather bag with a red cross on the sides. He took a seat next to Naruto and placed the bag, which he then opened, upon the bed. "Naruto-san," he said. "Could you scooch over a bit, I need to sow up your wounds." The boy was hesitant, but complied with the request by sliding over a bit. Tetsuda took a curved needle with some sort of clear blue thread through it out of the black bag and rested it on the table next to the bed. He then took out a small glass cylinder and a bottle of disinfectant. Next, he took out a pair of blue rubber gloves which he carefully placed over his hands. Once he poured the bottle's contents into the cylinder and soaked the needle in it, he moved closer to the bed to prepare sewing the cut along Naruto's chest; however, to his shock, the cut had healed, in a way. The torn flesh still clung loosely to his body, but a new layer of skin had grown in the opened wound. Upon inspecting all the cuts along his body, he discovered the same thing had happened with them as well, some cuts were actually missing! He could have placed his tools back in the bag, but he'd rather not leave the boy with several split pieces of flesh. So, even though he had no danger of his blood coming out of the cuts, Tetsuda sealed them up. During his work, he took notice of how Naruto's legs were unaffected by the burning that took place, even though they were only covered by the thin sheets of the bed. He made sure to store the thought away for later use as he sealed up the last stitch for the cut along the boy's head.

Naruto would wince at the pain of having the needle go through his skin multiple times, but remained strong as he felt Sarutobi give his hand a reassuring squeeze each time he flet like retreating from the doctor. Once the sutures were tied and finished, he was given a confidant smile from the doctor as well as another squeeze from the Hokage. _"I'm feeling a bit better,"_ he said. _"But my skin still burns and feels dirty…"_

"Perhaps you should take a bath," Sarutobi suggested. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't stay at the hospital all day. He had work waiting for him at his office, and a cleanup crew to pay for scrubbing the ally they found Naruto in, even though the walls still held a dark tinge to them.

"_I guess,"_ the boy looked down at the sheets and frowned. _"Could I... could I maybe get some cleaner sheets and clothes?"_ he asked. This subject brought his attention to his shorts, which tightly clung to his legs and hips like a second skin; he mentally winced at the thought of peeling them off, and actually winced when he realized he'd have to remove his underwear. That will probably be very painful.

"Of course," Tetsuda said as he began putting his things back in his bag. "I'll grab some fresh pajamas from storage and change the sheets while you clean yourself up, sound good?"

Naruto nodded and moved to get fully out of the bed with his feet hanging off the side. He paused before he could hop off and looked up at the Hokage nervously. _"Um… could you carry me to the bathtub?"_ he asked, looking back at the white floor tiles. _"The floor looks kinda cold…"_

Sarutobi didn't give a verbal response as he just plucked the boy up in his arms and carried him over to the bathroom door. He stopped after opening the door to turn to Tetsuda and say, "Make sure he's comfortable." He received a nod, and he entered the bathroom. The room was pretty bare, and thankfully had no windows. There was just a bath shower, toilet, sink and a medium mirror that reflected him and Naruto which he immediately threw a towel over. He turned the taps of the bath with his free hand, making sure the water would turn out somewhat warm. Naruto seemed to hate anything remotely cold, so it was safe to assume he might feel the same for heat.

"_Jiji,"_ Naruto spoke up.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"_Could I have some ramen after my bath?"_

Sarutobi let out a chuckle and nodded. "Sure, I'll ask Tetsuda if he can get you a nice big bowl." He leaned over to shut the taps off and lowered the boy into the water. Naruto didn't seem to hate the temperature; in fact, he even relaxed in the tub. "When you can, try to get your shorts off before you leave the bath, ok? And make sure to tell Tetsuda when you want out so he can get a wheelchair in to keep you off the floor."

He received a nod and a, _"Ok, Jiji."_ From the boy who then sunk deep into the bath to dunk his head.

The Hokage was about to pull Naruto up from the water when he refused to emerge for a long time, but remembered that the boy no longer needed to breathe. Still, he waited until Naruto reemerged from the bath water before leaving to talk to the doctor about Naruto's food.

At the Hokage Tower…

Sarutobi suddenly appeared back in his office, the only indication that he had ran the whole way came from the click of his closing door. He walked over to his desk and sat down to begin his work. The first papers, as he expected, were a series of letter of concern from several people in the village asking about a fire. While Naruto slept the night before, Sarutobi had gotten to work coming up with a story to tell the concerned village after many people saw the large grouping of ninja surrounding a blackened ally. He informed many of the merchants and council members that an assassin attempted to kill Naruto with a Katon Jutsu. He said the boy survived, but was burned and scarred beyond recognition, and the assassin escaped, thinking they succeeded. He thought of saying that one of his men caught and killed the made up assassin, but that would lead to some members requesting to see the body and know which village the assassin came from. It was simpler to reassure them that his best men and women were looking into it and that he'd make it a point to touch up security for the village. The council bought the lie and some seemed relieved to hear Naruto had survived. Truthfully, the security of the village _did_ need some improvement seeing as an unknown assailant snuck in and attempted to kill Naruto. Unfortunately, it meant Sarutobi had to sign several forms pertaining to who would be given the now needed task of guarding the walls and gates of the village.

He reached for his pen, ready to begin the long task ahead, when he heard someone speak. "My my, this is quite the situation you've got on your hands, Sarutobi-san." The voice was feminine and, strangely, had a seductive tone to it. He looked up from his work to see a tall, raven haired woman wearing a sleeveless red dress and green eyes. He didn't even need to say anything as four ANBU members appeared in the room, one of them holding a kunai to the her throat.

"Sarutobi-sama," said the member holding the knife. "We're very sorry, we… we didn't notice this woman until she spoke up."

"This is no way to treat a lady," the woman said, though she seemed amused rather than distraught. "And here I thought we could talk like civilized people."

Sarutobi stood up, glaring daggers into the intruder. "Who are you?" he asked.

The woman smiled, showing off a set of impossibly white teeth. "Come now, can you really expect me to talk with a knife so close to my throat?"

"It will be a lot closer if you don't answer my question." He really didn't need this right now. The day had been stressful enough without adding a stealthy intruder, and it was only _morning_! "Who are you?"

"Such poor manners," she replied. "But I suppose introductions are needed. I go by many names, Alexandria, Winry, Cortance, "hey sexy." You may call me Lauran."

"Alright, "Lauran," how did you get in here without being noticed by me or the ANBU?"

"You could say I'm good at being where I'm not supposed to be," she answered coyly. "I can be very persuasive, you see." She turned her head to look at the ANBU member holding a kunai to her neck and smiled. "Would you be a dear and lower that knife, please?" the man's arm shook as he seemed to be struggling with himself before he complied and removed the blade from her throat. "Thanks, now would you bring me a seat? I'm feeling awfully tired from standing." Again, the man seemed to be doing his damndest to not comply, but as before, he did as asked and fetched her a chair that rested in a few feet from the Hokage's desk and placed it at her legs to allow her to sit. "You're such a dear."

The Hokage took out a hidden kunai from his armor and stepped forward. "What is this, some sort of Genjutsu?"

The woman shook her head and let out a light laugh. "No no, of course it isn't. As I said, I can be very persuasive." She looked at the ANBU she had been commanding and gave him a loving smile. "Could you stand in the corner and not speak for now?" the man no longer fought against her commands, he just moved back into the corner of the office quietly.

The other ANBU, thankfully, didn't seem to be effected by her trickery as they placed kunai at her throat, wrist, and the last seemed ready to plunge a knife through the skirt of her dress to cut her femoral artery. "I don't suppose you can do that to three people at the same time," it was more of a statement than a question.

"I could try," she replied with an air of mirth. "And I'd more than likely succeed, but I'd rather not have the Hokage out for my head. I'll cut the banter and get to the point I should have been making a minute ago. I know what has happened to the person that was attacked last night, and I know the assailant as well."

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed with that tidbit. "Go on," he commanded.

"Well," Lauran looked at the three ninja that held weapons to her body and the forth who stood idly in the corner in a trance. "I'm a little uncomfortable."

"Deal with it," Sarutobi said.

She sighed and leaned into the seat. "Very well, I suppose there's no arguing. The individual that died last night isn't actually dead. Or I suppose they are, but they're still active, if you can believe me."

"Continue," he said. It seemed the woman had no idea who was attacked, and was under the assumption that he didn't know what happened to the victim after their death. This was good, he could at least keep Naruto safe from whoever this woman was.

"Oh," she seemed legitimately surprised at his reaction. "You don't seem that surprised at the idea of a corpse rising from the grave."

"I've seen a lot of strange things in my life, continue."

She shrugged and complied. "Well, I would suggest that you not bury the individual that was attacked. I'd also suggest allowing them to come with me."

"Oh?"

Lauran nodded, no longer holding onto her amused manner. "That person is a danger to your village, and it would be best if they came with me."

"And why is that?" this woman was being far to obscure for his liking. He needed answers.

"You don't understand, that person, they're no longer human," she continued. "They'll seek out and kill anyone they can if left alone. I hold no allegiance to your country-"

"And to which country _do_ you hold allegiance?"

Another sigh. "None, I serve a neutral party. Political conflict isn't our cup of tea. As I was saying, while I'm no friend of your country, I'd rather not see unsuspecting people die."

"What makes you so certain this individual, who happens to apparently a walking cadaver, is such a danger to us?" This was starting to go nowhere; her answers were too vague to work with. If she didn't divulge something soon, he'd have to turn her over to Ibiki.

"Because," she said dejectedly. "They'll search for human blood to drink."

Finally, something he could understand. Naruto had indeed feasted upon blood with a voracious hunger the night before, and was content afterwards. He decided to let a bit of information slip now that they were on a similar page. "What if this individual already did this?"

Lauran stared wide eyed at the Hokage for a good long while before sighing bitterly. "You knew all this, didn't you?" she needed no answer from him. She slumped in her chair. "I hate it when people do that. I knew something was wrong when you showed little reaction to the living corpse idea. You know, I could probably take the information from you, and you'd give it willingly with a smile if I used the right words." Her voice returned to her mischievous tone as she looked the old man up and down. "But, I suppose that would take all the fun out of it. Look, I'm willing to answer your questions, but I need some space." The Hokage nodded to the ANBU, who removed their weapons from her body. Lauran moved her shoulders about and smiled. "Ah, much-" she paused when two sets of metal cuffs were pressed against her forearms and locked her to the chair's arms. "…better. Is this really necessary?"

"It is if you want to talk," Sarutobi replied. He moved his attention to the ANBU members and nodded once more. "You may leave, I'll call you if I need help with her." The three bowed and turned to leave, one dragging the entranced member with them.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Lauran spoke. "Could you at least give me the name of the victim?" she asked. "I'm getting a little tired of referring to them as "the individual.""

The Hokage mulled it over in his mind for a moment before shaking his head. "No, but I can tell you that the victim was a small boy."

"Perfect," she said disparagingly. "I'm not good with kids."

"What makes you think I'll let you come anywhere near him?" he asked. "Never mind that, you claimed to have known the attacker, correct?"

"Yes," she nodded. "He was part of the neutral party I mentioned earlier. He was actually my partner in the organization."

Sarutobi was a calm and patient man, but hearing that the thing that caused Naruto the hell he'd been through was a teammate of this woman and her "neutral party" made his blood boil. "It hardly seems neutral to enter a hidden village and attack someone," he said, trying to get his mind back on track.

"He had disappeared from our watch for three months after claiming that he was no longer going to work with us. We only knew where to find him when we discovered he died."

"That brings me to my next question, how did you catch wind of this and make it here so quickly? Either you were already in the village when it happened or your organization is close to Konohagakure, which wouldn't bode well for your hideout."

Lauran brought her regular smile back. "Our leader has the uncanny ability to sense where and when we die. You're also partially correct about me being nearby; I was a few towns over when I was instructed to investigate since I was closest."

"This organization of yours-"

"Ketsueki," she interrupted.

"A strange name for an organization… what exactly do you do?"

She slumped in her seat as she drawled her explanation out like she had said it a thousand times before. "Ketsueki is a very small group of individuals with common biological traits who offer themselves as mercenaries to fund their medical research. Before you ask, our services are available to hidden villages, but we do not perform any tasks that would harm other hidden villages or countries. We mostly take on bounties and difficult tasks deemed too dangerous to let more experienced people die for. We don't accept checks, metals, spices, or I.O.U.'s as currency. All money is to be paid up front in legal tender, no sooner than one week before the required task must begin. Any sudden notices will cost extra."

"You're mercenaries?"

"We don't like to use that term, but I suppose so."

Sarutobi sat back in his chair, but kept his knife in sight of both he and the woman in case she tried anything. "And what exactly did this… man do to the boy?"

Lauran seemed to hesitate with her answer, taking a minute to think. "The process is… difficult to describe medically. I don't know why, but Bertram turned the boy into one of us."

"One of you… what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well," she attempted to adjust herself in the chair, but stopped as the metal cuffs clanged and tugged at her arms. She glared bitterly at the cuffs before giving up and slumping into the seat. "What I say cannot leave this room."

"I'll divulge the information to those who should have it," he replied coldly.

She gave him a deadpan look and sighed. "You may find this difficult to believe, but the boy is not alone. Ketsueki's members are all a part of race of beings not entirely… human. You see, each member is different from one another, yet we each have certain similarities."

"I'm still not hearing an explanation." Again, she seemed diffident as to whether or not to speak, shuffling and squirming in her chair to avoid eye contact with Sarutobi. It was a process that continued to eat away at his already waning patience. He was just too tired, too stressed, and too old for this. He didn't often lose his patience, but when he did, it could be frightening. He stood up and slammed his hands on the desk, making the woman jump in her chair from the sudden outburst of frustration from a normally calm person. "Get to the point," he growled.

Lauran sat wide eyed at the huffing mad old man across from her. _'I never knew he could lose his temper,'_ she thought. For one of the first times during the conversation, she showed an emotion other than sultry humor and trepidation. She was a bit scared. It took her some time to find her voice while staring into the eyes of the enraged man, but her answer was as clear as she could make it. "The boy is a Vampire."

He stopped and rose from his hunched over position and asked, "A what?"

"A Vampire. It's a name our leader gave us. It's a person who has died and risen from the grave to feast on the blood of mortals. Ketsueki seeks out and takes these individuals in to protect them and the world they threaten, I swear!"

Sarutobi held his steady eye contact with Lauran for what seemed like minutes, the latter of the two mirrored his choice to not blink as he glared into her. "If what you say is true," his tone had finally softened a bit, and his gaze became less harsh, something Lauran was more then grateful for. "Then what makes you think I'm inclined to give you the boy? He's happy in this village, and I doubt he'd be content to leave. I'd dare say he'd be miserable."

Without the harsh glare of the Hokage boring into her, Lauran was able to speak in a less alarmed tone. "I won't force you to hand him over; in fact, I'll leave this place without him and never come back unless invited."

The Hokage was, naturally, doubtful of the sincerity in her words. "You'd leave just like that?"

"I may have been stretching the truth when I said I was here to take him with me," she admitted, her playful smile now returning. "This isn't the first time we've been told to leave places for this sort of situation. Most villages get rid of the Vampire's within a year, if they don't attempt to kill them first. My orders are to make sure the Vampire is safe, and to inform their next of kin of what to expect from him. If allowed, I am to retrieve him and bring him to our head quarters."

"He doesn't have any next of kin," he said. "It would be best if you told me."

"I see… well, I'll start with saying that little Naruto Uzumaki is in for a rough time." She gave him a devilish smile as she watched his reaction.

Sarutobi felt his heart drop when she said that name and his eyes twitched. "How…"

"Hokage," she spoke as if she were lecturing a child, which did not help Sarutobi's already present state of anger. "Information is my specialty. You said it was a boy, which had me going through a list of possibilities in my mind, but it was sadly too large to pin out who it was. Then you showed such a passionate determination to get information about what happened to the victim, which brought me to the conclusion that the boy meant something to you. Either that or you get _really_ worked up over random children being attacked. I could also strike it up as you becoming overly agitated whilst looking for answers as to what danger I and my associates posed, but you wouldn't need to be so gung ho about making me talk, you could just hand me over to your lovely interrogator. So I chalked it up to you having a strong connection to the victim. I thought it may have been one of your family members, but as I recall, the youngest member of the Sarutobi Clan is Konohamaru, who's just a baby. Then you mentioned the boy had no family, and my list of names came down to two people, Uchiha Sasuke, and Naruto Uzumaki. If the Uchiha boy had been attacked, the entire village would be absolutely _buzzing_ about it, and I'd have known right away; however, there's almost no word on the incident, and nothing on the victim yet. It's possible that you're just _that_ good at keeping things like this happening to the prodigy of Konoha, and I honestly thought it was the case; however, I took a guess and realized I was right when I saw your reaction. It was simple, really. And fun."

The Hokage stared at the mysterious woman with a mixture of shock and awe. No one, _no one_ could make such connections as quickly as she did unless they were exceptionally talented at deduction and had the memory of an elephant to be able to go through a massive list of individuals and narrow the list down in a speed that was… inhuman. "What in Kami's name are you?" he asked.

Lauran leaned forward until her arms pressed firmly against the rims of the cuffs. "I'm here to help," she said matter-of-factly. "I'm not your enemy, Sarutobi, and I wish no harm upon you or the village you protect. I only want what's best for Naruto without forcing him into anything. So if you really want answers, and I mean ones you can use to at least help prepare the boy for the rough road he has ahead of him, you're going to have to give me some _trust_. Now, would you kindly have these cuffs removed before they start cutting into my skin, _please_?"

Sarutobi took in what the "Vampire" said. Obviously, he wanted answers to the thousands of questions that rattled off in his brain which plagued him the past two days. Naruto needed answers to the questions the Hokage and Tetsuda could not possibly wrap their heads around. How far could the doctor's research into the complete unknown take them before they hit roadblock upon roadblock, when this woman was offering all the answers. So long as he allowed her enough freedom to move about and do Kami knows what. This wasn't the most intense negation setting he had ever found himself in, but it was certainly one of the most pressing with its outcome. After all, the wellbeing of a demon vessel and his surrogate grandson was at stake. This wasn't a situation that he could resolve by staring her in the eyes and deciding whether or not to trust her, she seemed to have a way of making her expressions betray her words without notice. No, this was a situation that depended on a leap of faith. And for Naruto, he would certainly jump.

"Very well," he said, moving to approach her. He stopped as he came within a foot from her seat and fixed her with a steady glare. "I'm expecting you not to attempt any sudden actions. If you choose to betray-"

"Believe me when I say I'd rather not get on your bad side," she interrupted. "It seems to be… unhealthy."

He nodded and turned his head to his study door. "Keys, please," he said. In a swirl of leaves, one of the ANBU members from before appeared in the room and dropped a small set of metal keys in the Hokage's hand. "That should be all, thank you." Just as he entered, the ninja vanished in another swirl. Sarutobi brought his attention back to the cuffed woman, giving her one last warning stare before bending down to unlock the cuffs.

The two metal restraints hit the floor with a loud *clank* and Lauran stood to wring her freed wrists. "Ahh," she sighed in elation, flexing her hands from side to side to loosen them up. "Much much better. Any longer and they'd start to chafe."

"I believe we had a deal," the Hokage said as he returned to his seat. "I expect an answer to every single question."

"Very well," Lauran replied, sitting back in her chair and crossing her legs. "But, you'll need a pen and paper to write this down, and I'd suggest canceling any plans you had for the evening."

Author's Note: Alright, hope this chapter came out alright. I don't know why, but I get the feeling it isn't of the best quality I could have provided. Read it over thrice and it seemed fine, I just felt it was lacking something I couldn't put my finger on. Oh well, maybe the next chapter will be better. Thanks for reading.


	4. Chapter 4

_Blub…_

_Blub blub…_

_Blub blub blub…_

Though strange, the simple act of listening to the small pockets of air that remained inside him pass through his lips, float to the top of the water, and pop once they broke the surface was as therapeutic a task that Naruto could find. Were he older and a bit more introspective, he'd have found it funny that something as simple as lying at the bottom of tub and blowing bubbles would help numb his mind to the events of the past two days more than speaking to a therapist or friend. Sometimes he would open his eyes and try and see through the murky waters of the bath to watch the bursts of air travel up and disappear. It was like watching the tiny bits of flame that would break off from the head of a fire and vanish into the ether in less than a second.

Sometimes he would keep his eyes open without blinking and do nothing but stare up at the ceiling through the muck that would momentarily clear as bits of natural light came through and shone in the form of little beams, like tiny skewers stabbing into the water. It was during this time that he was able to become more aware of his movements. His ears, though submerged within vile water, could pick up everything that went on in the tub. He'd bend his finger, and the sound of the bones scraping with the joints that held them would echo through the tub.

This made having even a moment of peace complicated as he found it impossible to remain still long enough for any silence to be had. It was a growing irritation that waned on his limited patience. All he wanted right now was to be left alone in silence, but his body wouldn't stop making noise he didn't know it capable of.

_Tum tum tum!_

That didn't sound like moving joints and bone at all. It sounded more like a thunderous thumping was coming from outside the bath. Naruto brought his head up out of the water to see what had intruded on his bath, shivering as he broke the surface and met the freezing air. He was somewhat surprised to see Doctor Tetsuda at the bathroom door. Naruto readjusted himself to better meet the doctor. _"Tetsuda-san,"_ he greeted. _"Why are you in here?"_

The doctor smiled and held out his hands. "I just wanted to bring you these," he said. In his left hand was a set of red and white striped pajamas, and in his right were a pair of orange slippers. "I know you don't like putting your bare feet on the floor, so I snagged these from storage as well. I figured you'd rather move around yourself rather than using a wheelchair."

Naruto gave the doctor a genuine smile as he looked at the new clothing and nodded his head. "Thank you very much. I like the color of the slippers."

"I thought you might," he replied humorously. "I'll just leave your pajamas on the rack here with the towels and your slippers at the bath, alright?" He went about doing as he said when he received a nod. "So, how're you feeling now? You've been in here for a few hours now."

The boy slid further into the tub to let his chin touch the cold surface. _"Better, I guess,"_ he mumbled. _"I don't hurt anymore and I'm all clean, but I'm really hungry."_

Tetsuda nodded and gave the boy a reassuring smile. "I figured you'd be hungry. Normally we don't allow patients to eat outside food, especially ramen," he saw Naruto slump further into the tub and had to refrain from laughing. "But, considering the Hokage has requested it, I'll let one bowl slide. I just sent someone out to get a bowl from that stall you really like."

Immediately Naruto's mood changed and he had to keep himself from hopping out of the bath with joy. It had been too long since he had been able to enjoy a bowl of his favorite food. An entire day! It would be nice to have something he could actually enjoy after the recent events. He _really_ needed something to look forward to. He wanted to get out right then just so he could eat, though it would be embarrassing for him with the doctor standing there. _"Um… I think I'll get out now," _he said, hoping Tetsuda would understand that he wanted some privacy.

The doctor thankfully caught on fast and nodded, heading straight for the door to leave the boy in peace. He stopped halfway through the door, however, and turned to face Naruto one more time. "Ah, one last thing, one of your classmates came by with homework for you. It was placed on the table next to the bed with a sheet of instructions from your teacher."

Naruto grumbled and sunk deeper into the tub until bubbles started coming out of his mouth. He had forgotten about school, and the homework that came with it. It was just like Iruka to send homework to someone, even if they were in the hospital. _"Ok,"_ he managed to say with his face partially submerged. The doctor nodded and closed the door shut, leaving Naruto in peace.

It took him another fifteen minutes to finally get out of the tub. He was thankful Tetsuda had placed the slippers near the tub for him to step into. He wasn't so thankful for the feeling of sliding his rotted, wet flesh into the soft material which made a spine shivering, _'squish!'_ _"Eww,"_ he whispered, placing his other foot in the last slipper and cringing at the sound once more. The slippers were soft, and now squishy. It was a nice contrast to the ice cold floor or the filth stained sheets he had kept his feet in for the last two days. Naruto moved to the sink where his clothing and a fresh towel waited for him, although the towel was strangely draped over the mirror for some reason. He shrugged and gave a tug on the towel, and was instantly met with an unpleasant surprise. He knew he probably looked like the thing that attacked him, and though he looked different in many ways, it was still a good match. No more was his tuff of deep yellow hair. Instead, he had a lumpy, red, hairless scalp littered in several cuts and what appeared to be boils. His eyes were no longer bright blue, but black with tiny red irises. Naruto's ears were pointed and a bit jagged; one even had a hole in it! Thankfully, he was not as thin framed or as fetid as his attacker, nor was his body as gangrenous looking as the creature's. His teeth were also coming in nicely, although they seemed to be taking on sharp points that barely jutted out of his gums.

He sighed dejectedly, trying to keep what Sarutobi had said in mind. There was a way around everything, no matter how impossible it may seem.

Naruto turned away from his reflection to continue drying himself off. Even if there was a way around it, somehow, he still didn't want to look at himself. Of course, the leftover grime that held on came off and stained the nice white hospital towels gray, something that made him want to retch at when he realized the gunk was _everywhere_ on his body. Thankfully, the towels took most if not all of it off. The pajamas went on easily enough, though he never got the buttons to match up right.

The door swung open with an infuriatingly loud, _'CREAK!'_ that made Naruto wince. _"Why is everything here so loud!?"_ he screeched.

As if Kami hated him, a loud thumping came from the door, followed by the voice of Inu asking, "Naruto, is everything ok in there?"

The boy covered his ears and shut his eyes tight, trying to block out the noise. _"Yeah, I'm ok,"_ he called back as he made his way to his bed. _"Just… don't knock on the door anymore. It's too loud!"_

There was a silence on the other end, followed by a confused, "O…k?"

Naruto grunted at the man, climbing back onto his newly cleaned bed. He noticed that someone had placed a wooden board in front of his window, something he was immensely thankful for. He was less thankful for the book and paper that sat next to his bed with a note reading, 'Naruto, hand in your work after your stay at the hospital ~ Iruka.'

"_Why does Iruka-sensei have to give me homework _now_ of all times?"_ He picked the book up and looked it over. _"Konoha History,"_ he read. _"Sounds boring… eh, I'll do it later."_ He tossed the book back on the table and leaned back in his bed. It was too early for him to try and nap, and with him looking the way he did, wandering around the hospital was out of the question. There was no way he'd try and look out the window for a distraction, not at the risk of frying himself into the hospital floor. All he could do was lay in wait for his ramen to arrive. It was good that he had spent more time in the bath, because his waiting time was short.

"Naruto," the voice of Inu spoke through the door. Said boy was grateful that the ninja had remembered no to knock this time. "I'm coming in with your food, alright?"

Naruto pulled the covers over him to hide as much of his skin as possible before replying. _"Ok, you can come in now!"_

The door swung open, loudly creaking much to Naruto's dissatisfaction, as Inu entered with a large plastic bowl and a set of chopsticks. He closed the door behind him and approached slowly. "Necko wishes me to inform you that she is sorry for what happened earlier, and that she made sure to retrieve the largest, fullest bowl they had at the stall for you."

The boy thought back to what Inu was talking about, and he remembered a female ANBU opening the blinds on him by accident. He had completely forgotten who had brought in the sunlight, and from what he could recall, she didn't mean any harm. _"It's ok,"_ he said as he pulled a small table close to his bed. _"She didn't mean to hurt me… I forgive her."_

Inu placed the bowl on the table and nodded. "I will be sure to inform her. Is there anything else you need?" Naruto shook his head and Inu bowed. "Alright, we'll be outside if you need us, alright?"

"_Alright,"_ Naruto nodded, breaking the chopsticks. _"Thank you for the meal!"_ As soon as the door shut and he was left alone, Naruto tore the plastic lid off the bowl and dug in with wild abandon. He brought as many noodles and meat chunks to his face that his chopsticks could hold and gobbled them down without so much as chewing. With his teeth still coming in, he had little use for them other than breaking up the occasional strip of noodles that passed through his lips. They weren't tough enough to really get through the meat. To his delight, Inu had not been kidding when he said Necko had fetched the fullest bowl available. The container was filled to the brim with eggs, ham, beef, veggies and even naruto!

It took him less than three minutes to finish the bowl, and even then he was still licking the inside for the very last drops of miso. When he was sure he had gotten every last morsel from the bowl, he tossed it back onto the table and laid back, letting the satisfying feeling of being mostly full wash over him. He sighed contently and pulled the blankets over him, nuzzling deep into the pillow and closing his eye. Perhaps he could get a bit more sleep now that he had eaten.

The Hokage's Office

Sarutobi slumped back in his seat, nursing his sore wrist after writing the several pages of notes he had taken over the course of the last five hours. The most writing he usually did in a day was placing his signature on several hundred papers he had to read through. Across from him, Lauren sat comfortably with a cup of red tea resting in her free hands. "This… is a lot to take in," Sarutobi said. He looked over the stack of papers before him, each of them holding precious, and even dangerous, information about Naruto's condition and what to expect in the near future. From what he had gathered, it was going to a rough and very grim ride for the boy.

"I told you it would be hard to swallow," Lauren said. She took a long sip of her tea and stretched out as best she could in the seat. It had been a long day for her as well, and her body was starting to ache from sitting for several hours. "Do you have any more questions?"

The Hokage leaned forward to flip through the papers, pulling out one of the bottom sheets and reading it over. "Yes, I have a few more." He noticed Lauren slump dejectedly in her chair. "Earlier, you told me that he wouldn't be able to eat regular food. Does that mean he won't have an appetite for it, or is he simply incapable of consuming it?"

"Oh, he can eat normal food," she corrected. "He just won't be able to keep it down. If he were to, say, eat a rice ball, it would only be a few minutes before his stomach would try to get rid of it. When that happens, he'll lose any blood he's consumed recently, and become very hungry."

"That reminds me," he took out another sheet and skimmed through it for the information he was looking for. "You said he needs to drink human blood? What if he tried something else?"

"What, you mean like the blood of an animal?"

"Yes," he nodded. "Would that work as an acceptable substitute?"

Lauren leaned back and stared at the ceiling, as if her answers were above her. "Well… it doesn't fill most of us up like mortal blood, and we can only stand so much of it before vomiting, but Bertram claimed he could live off rats and stray animals if he needed to, so it might work for Naruto considering he's the same as him."

That was good news, though he would try and get the boy on a diet of deer rather than rats. "Good, I'll see to it he's fed a steady diet of animal blood. There are plenty of butcher's in Konoha."

"I said Bertram _claimed_ it was possible, I never said he proved it."

The Hokage ignored her as he dug through the papers once more and produced another page. "You said there was a way around his sunlight problem, yet you didn't specify."

"In my defense, you were asking too many questions for me to give proper answers to." She received a scowl from the old man and sighed. "But you are correct. There is a way around it. We've found that sunlight does not affect clothed areas, so if you can cover him head to toe in something, he should be fine. Obviously that doesn't mean he's going to be one hundred percent safe, even the slightest bit of exposed skin will burn."

Sarutobi nodded and quickly scribbled the bit of information on a blank spot on the paper. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Sunglasses seem to work as eye protection," she added. "And he can never have the use of chakra."

The Hokage nearly fell out of his seat at that. "I'm sorry," he said, pressing himself further into his seat "Could you repeat that?"

"He can never use chakra," she repeated. "As I said, he's essentially a cadaver. Once he died, his chakra systems shut down. I suppose this will be a problem, considering he's an academe student."

"It will," Sarutobi said forlornly. This would indeed be a serious problem for Naruto, considering he so desperately wanted to be a ninja. Without the use of chakra, the task was nearly impossible… but not completely unheard of. He knew of one man, a strange man, who rarely used chakra at all. He'd have to see about getting him to give Naruto some help, and with any luck, Naruto would do well enough in class and on the written portion of the final exam to just pass. "But I may have a way around it," he finished.

"Oh?" Lauren sat up and leaned forward. "And how is that? I'm interested in hearing how you plan to make a ninja out of a boy incapable of performing ninjutsu and genjutsu."

Sarutobi smiled. Kami, it had been far too long since he could actually give a smile. The last time had to have been earlier in the day when he left Naruto with his bath. "I have my ways."

"Ooh, mysterious." She copied his smile, though it lasted only a second as a grim thought entered her mind. "You have him well secured, right?"

"What?" Sarutobi asked. "Of course, there are three of my best ninja outside his door."

Lauren's eyes widened and she nearly jumped out of her chair. "You're telling me you've left a creature with a nearly insatiable hunger for blood unsecured in a _hospital_!? Three ninja won't be enough to keep him from going wild with hunger!"

Something clicked in the Hokages mind, bringing back a specific memory. He had asked Tetsuda to look into getting Naruto some food, something that, according to Laruen, would only make his hunger worse. _'Idiot!_' he cursed himself. He stood up immediately, his chair clattering to the floor. Several ANBU entered the room in time to hear him say, "Cuff her to the chair until I return!" before he vanished in a swirl of wind.

Konoha Hospital, Naruto's room

Naruto groaned as he turned in his bed, his arms wrapped tightly around his upper abdomen. The satisfying feeling of fullness had left him minutes after consuming his food, replaced with pain and dizziness. His stomach wouldn't stop grumbling, and he dared not open his eyes when dizziness and loss of balance threatened to rear their ugly heads once more. He squeezed tighter on his stomach as he felt it churn and rumble. _"Oh Kami… I don't… I don't…"_ he leaned over the bed, his breathing picking up in speed.

"_I… I ca-"_ he felt drool pool in the pocked under the tip of his tongue, which was usually a warning of vomiting. Naruto took a gamble and opened his eyes, only to immediately regret it. The floor looked so far away, but then it would come closer and closer, bobbing up and down like a yoyo. The pocket of droll reached his lips and dribbled out his mouth and onto the floor.

That was it. That was all he needed to see before the floodgates opened and he finally let it all out. The soup, the noodles, all the toppings and even the blood he took from the Hokage came pouring out and splashed over the floor. There was a loud thumping in his head, or at the door, he couldn't tell where the sound was coming from. _"Wai…don-"_ his words were cut off by another gurgling upchuck that left the floor and sheets cherry red.

"Naruto-san!" Someone was shouting at him, he couldn't tell who, the pounding sound had become too loud and his vision blurred into an incoherent mess. He could feel something touching his shoulder. It felt like hand, a hand that _reeked_ of dog fur. The powerful scent made him cough and retch. "Naruto-san…" again they shouted, but again the rest of what they said was drowned out by that damned pounding.

_Thump thump._

_Thump thump._

_Thump thump._

"_I… wa…"_ He couldn't understand what he was trying to say, or why he was saying it. _"I wan…"_ Naruto turned his head to meet the owner of the offending hand that intruded on his senses. The person was tall and gangly with dark clothing and a bone white face. He had no idea what this thing that grabbed at him and shouted his name was, or why it knew his name, but from what he could tell, it was the source of the noise that plagued him.

_Thump thump._

_Thump thump._

_Thump thump._

The pounding grew in intensity; it was hammering in his skull and in his ears. "Naruto…" The creature was still talking to him, yet its words seemed foreign, and only his name seemed to stick out. It reached out with its other spindly black arm to grab him. Naruto flailed his arms about in hopes to combat the offender.

Apparently it worked, as the attacker seemed to back away a few feet from the bed. Naruto turned around to meet the person head on, only to immediately regret it as he clutched his abdomen once more from pain. Now that his stomach had been emptied, he was _starved_, with no food in sight. Unless…

_Thump thump._

That pounding… there was no doubt about it.

_Thump thump._

Blood…

_Thump thump._

Fresh blood, pumping through arteries and tiny veins, contained in a still standing being.

_Thump thump._

That savory metallic liquid was but a stone's throw from his bed.

_Thump thump._

He wanted it.

_Thump thump._

He _needed_ it.

"_Hungry…" _he hissed out. His stomach felt like it was on fire, and every second he want without filling it was pure agony. _"So…hungry…"_ Naruto crept closer to the person, legs brought up into a crouching position and ready to pounce as he readied himself at the foot of his bed. His prey's heart rate picked up and they seemed to be say something, but its voice was just background noise coupled with the dull crash of that oh so noisy organ._ "Give it to me!"_ He leapt from the bed with strength he never knew he had and tackled the intruder to the ground. His hands searched frantically for a patch of exposed flesh that he could sink his teeth into. Even if his teeth were barely passed the gums, he'd find a way to break the skin and drink al; that he could.

"N-Naruto!" The intruder managed to gain his bearings and lifted the boy off of him, holding him up by his arms. But Naruto showed no signs of stopping his assault as he thrashed about, arms swinging and digging at the attacker's cloths to find flesh and his legs kicking about. The intruder seemed to scream something to its side. What it was, Naruto did not know nor care, but it seemed to attract two more dark figures.

"_Give me it!"_ Naruto screamed again, his next swing managing to hit the attacker's elbow, making it drop the boy. He took that moment to grab at the intruder's exposed wrist. _"I need it!"_ He tried to clamp his mouth onto the bundle of veins, but the owner of the hand managed to wrench it away before he could dig in. Naruto glared at the offender and let out a feral snarl. _"Hungry!"_ he jumped at the intruder again, but was lifted up out of the air while in mid leap and tossed onto the bed. The two new intruders held his thrashing body down as they tied his hands to the bed posts. For some reason, they had the insane idea that they could hold him down with bits of rope. He would prove them wrong.

Naruto barely had to put any effort into breaking from his bonds and took another leap; though this time he aimed for the intruder closest to him. He managed to wrap his legs around their chest and dig his fingernails into their shoulders. The sharp, metallic scent of blood entered his nose and he inhaled it deeply, reveling in the sharp aroma that sent chills up his spine. Before he could so much as taste the coveted liquid, he was pried off from his prey once more and held to his bed by all three intruders, and as strong as he was, he could not fight off their combined weight holding him down. Still, he lashed out as best he could despite his inability to free himself. _"Let go!"_ He screamed and hollered for blood, for torn flesh, and for split veins.

He continued to howl and thrash about until two other intruders entered the room. One wore a white lab coat while the other wore robes of a similar shade with hints of red. This one smelled of tobacco, earth, and tar. It was a strangely familiar scent that reminded Naruto of someone he knew, though whom it was escaped him. The intruder approached the bedside quickly, holding out a small red bag. It seemed to say something to the other intruders, something that made them move out its way. "Naruto," it spoke. The voice was more familiar than the scent, even warming. It moved to his side where it placed its hand on Naruto's head, an act that sent the boy into wilder hysterics as a patch of exposed flesh barely concealing a bundle of blue veins appeared near his eyes. "Naruto," it spoke again, voice stern and calm. "Please calm down. It pains me to see you this way."

"_Hungry,"_ he whimpered pathetically. Naruto couldn't understand why he was starting to feel a strange pain in his chest as he looked up at the white figure, or why his eyes became clouded with some kind of murky substance. _"So hungry… it hurts."_

"I know," the person said in an understanding tone. "I know it hurts, and I'm sorry that I've allowed you to be placed in this state, but I need you to calm yourself, _please_."

It was odd. Naruto wanted nothing more than to thrash about until he was free of his restrainers so he could eat, but somehow, this person made things seem less hazy. Naruto didn't feel the need to lash out anymore and relaxed into the mattress. His sight became completely clouded in near pitch darkness, and something was trickling down his face. Was he… crying? Why? What was so heart wrenching that he felt it necessary to tear up? He blinked the tears out of his eyes and whimpered. The figure came into focus and he shrunk further into the sheets from shame. _"I'm sorry, Jiji,"_ he whined. _"I didn't mean to hurt anyone."_

"I know," Sarutobi said reassuringly, placing a hand on Naruto's forehead. "I'm sorry I let things get like this. I promise I'll do better so you never have to go through this again." He lifted the small red bag over Naruto's head. "Open your mouth, Naruto."

"_W-what is that?"_

"It's… this is blood Naruto, and it's what you'll need to drink from now on instead of food." He knew something like this would be hard to swallow, no put intended, but the boy needed to know these things if he was going to get through this.

Naruto shuddered at the thought of drinking someone else's bodily fluid like some sort of fairytale monster, but he trusted the Hokage to do what was best for him. And so, with great hesitation, he complied and opened his jaws. The taste? It was nothing like he had ever had, save perhaps for Sarutobi's, but his was warm. This was chilled and less salty than his previous consumption. Hints of pork fat and jelly splashed his taste buds. His whole body seemed to go limp as he simply let the foreign, yet oddly pleasant taste wash over him. It was so relaxing in fact, that just as the last bit dribbled from the bag, he pulled off to sleep. It had been a long and exhausting day, and with his gullet finally full, he could rest peacefully.

Sarutobi sighed and handed the bag to Inu. "I've got some explaining to do," he said resignedly. "But first, I need to see to it that Naruto is kept out of sunlight."

"I think I have a solution to that," said Tetsuda, holding up several rolls of bandages.

Holy SHIT! This took me way too long, and it's not even that long. The reason? I was dissatisfied with the first one I wrote, so I completely redid it. Even then, I found this chapter strangely hard to write for. Anyway, this should hopefully be the last time it takes TWO FUCKING MONTHS to update a story, even though I'm still not satisfied with the finished product. I'll start working on FMR before tackling the next chapter of this. If you see anything wrong, and you probably will considering I have the writing talent of a chimp.


	5. Chapter 5

"How does it feel?" Tetsuda asked as he finished coiling the last set of bandages around Naruto's head. He received no reply as the child only moved his eyes from the doctor to his wrapped hand. "Too tight?"

Naruto shook his head and brought his fingers in to form a fist several times. _"No,"_ he said quietly, eyes centered on the snugly wrapped digits. _"Just feels… funny."_

The doctor smiled, placing the excess roll into his coat pocket. "That's to be expected," he patted the boy on the head, an action that to his surprise gained him a flinch from the child. The doctor coughed into his fist awkwardly and tried to continue. "It'll take some time for you to get used to it, but if I'm right, you'll be able to walk around in the sunlight without much worry."

That prospect earned a more positive reaction from the boy, who looked up and smiled, though it was difficult to tell with his mouth wrapped up as well. However, his mood dampened slightly as a thought occurred. _"What about my eyes?"_

Tetsuda slapped the side of his head, his face doing little to hide his frustration. "Ah, sorry, Naruto-San. I can't believe I forgot." He reached into his lab coat and produced a pair of green tinted goggles. "These should keep your eyes protected, though you'll have to get used to the green tint."

Naruto took the offered specs and placed them over his eyes and tightening the rubber strap. The room became bathed in green, a sight that made him feel uneasy. He didn't particularly care for the color ever since he was attacked. It reminded him of the… _thing_ that changed him. _"Do… do you have any other colors?"_ he asked anxiously. _"And are… are you _sure_ this will protect me?"_

"I suppose I can look into getting a different pair," Tetsuda spoke, scratching his chin and looking to the ceiling as he thought on the second question. "As for the protection, I assure you that you'll be safe… at least, that's what the tests would suggest."

"_Tests?"_ the question came out sounding unconvinced.

The doctor cleared his throat as he prepared his explanation. "You see, Naruto, I discovered your aversion to sunlight while looking at the first samples of blood I took. The samples burned and sizzled in the light, much like your body. So after the… incident, I used the next samples to test ways to help keep you shielded. I found that cloth thick enough to block out the light kept the samples safe, if not slightly warm. I also discovered that the right glass protection kept the rays from causing much harm to your blood… though, I'd advise you to keep from staring at the sun for more than a second. It may prove… painful." Tetsuda paused for a moment to make sure his patient was following along. When Naruto showed no sign of confusion, he continued. "Now, to ensure that this plan will work… I'll need to expose you to a small amount of sunlight." When he saw the boy's head shoot up, the doctor held up his hands to try and silence Naruto's concerns. "I assure you that this test will be performed with a sliver of sunlight. I'll, of course, allow you to choose when to touch the light. Lastly, if you feel at all uncomfortable, I will remove the light." He gave the child an encouraging smile and gently placed his hand on his shoulder. "I won't make you do this if you don't want to."

"_No,"_ the boy shook his head and shrugged off the contact. _"I… I have to do it sometime."_ He gave the sealed window a pensive gaze and shivered before looking back up at the doctor pleadingly. _"Just… just make sure it's _reeeeaaaalllly _small… please?"_

Tetsuda's smile returned and he gave his patient an affirmative nod while he moved to the window. He delicately pulled back the board that was placed against the window, letting in a thin line of sunlight that ran from the ceiling to the floor. The doctor stepped back to give Naruto room to hop off the bed. When the boy didn't move, instead staring frightfully (from what Tetsuda could tell considering the child had his face fully obscured) at the invading light. He did not hurry the boy, as he understood that this was something that Naruto would have to do in his own time. Instead, he stood quietly by the unsealed window, offering a comforting smile whenever the boy looked his way with what he assumed to be a timid face. This went on for what had to have been the better part of an hour. Despite his aching feet, the Doctor remained like a statue.

Eventually, Naruto managed to gather the courage to slowly scoot his way to the edge of the bed. He peered down at the floor anxiously, like any moment the tiles would fall into darkness. Giving one more minute to pass, he slid off the bed and landed softly on the floor, wincing as his bandaged feet made contact. It took him some time to steady himself and find his center, as it had been days since he last stood on solid ground. _"Floor's still too cold,"_ he mumbled mostly to himself. When he received no response from the other occupant of the room, he proceeded forward. As he reached the light, Naruto came to a halt, giving the thin thread a scrutinizing once over. He gave Tetsuda one last glance before carefully placing his hand before the sunlight. The bright ling ran over his clothed hand smoothly and came to a halt at his wrist. Nothing.

"_I… it doesn't hurt!"_ he belted delightfully, turning to the doctor and giving him an enormous smile. _"Can you… can you open it more?"_

Tetsuda seemed immensely relieved as he let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. "Sure," he said, returning the smile. "Just let me-" his hand slipped, letting the board drop and immersed the room in the light of the morning sun. the doctor fumbled to grab and replace the wood, but stopped as he noticed Naruto show no sign of discomfort. In fact, the child seemed to be enjoying the sensation of being bathed in sunlight for the first time in a week. "I'm guessing the bandages work?" he asked humorously. Naruto merely responded with a quick nod as he stood awash in the morning light, his eyes visably closed tight through the goggles.

"_This is nice,"_ Naruto whispered, raising his arms to soak in more warmth.

Hokage's Office

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair, wincing when his sore back made a not entirely comfortable crack. Before him sat Lauren, comfortably lounging in the heavily cushioned chair she had made one of his ANBU fetched for her whenever they had one of their meetings. Her face mirrored his, with a heavy, tired grimace. They had been talking for the past few days nearly nonstop, breaking only so he could sleep. Even then, she would remain in her seat without raising any fuss. How she could stand sitting for days on end like that waqs just another mystery that he'd receive no answer to.

Unfortunately, they were getting to their wit's ends with one another. They talked, yes, but that was putting it politely. Most of the time was spent with the Hokage asking questions that Lauren would reply with a half answer, or find some way to change the topic. This only happened with questions pertaining to Lauren, Ketsueki and anything to do with those in it, and information on the man that attacked Naruto. The only questions she would answer fully were only ones relating to Naruto and what he had to expect in the next few years.

The Hokage had tried to have Ibiki come in and talk with her; however, the man gave up when the woman proved to outwit him at his own game. Morino had a knack for extracting information from a person without having to so much as touch them. All he'd do is ask them questions that needed answering as well as superfluous or outright useless questions like the victim's favorite color or their relationships with their family. He'd ask these questions in a seemingly random order and would often repeat them several times later on. Eventually, this would put the suspect on edge and induce both confusion and anxiety as the interrogator made it seem like the useless information was important and the questions he needed answered would be asked with little to no attention or interest. It was certainly a strange, though effective way of removing information from someone; however, Lauren somehow managed to turn the interrogation around and began asking questions that she would answer herself. Ibiki eventually left when she brought up his failure to protect his younger brother, Idate, and his inability to retrieve the second Hokage's weapon. When asked how she knew any of that, she replied with a smile and a coy, "Information is my specialty too, Ibiki-kun."

So here they sat, frustrated and spent in their seats after having another lively conversation that somehow got turned into an argument over Sarutobi's irresponsible son, Asuma, and his dreadful tobacco addiction. The Hokage pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled loudly through his nostrils. "Alright," he said in a defeated tone, wearily staring at his guest. "You win, you can leave." The last words came out in a huff. He was finished. Never in his life had he met someone so haughty and stubborn since Tsunade. If he had to spend one more minute arguing with her, he'd likely take her up on her suggestion to call Anko in for a physical interrogation. Somehow he knew that would end as well as Ibiki's did.

Lauren sat upright and beamed at him with a massive smile, the life returning to her eyes once again. "Oh, _finally_!" she cried joyously. "I thought we'd be at this for another day." She stood up and brushed herself off, craning her back and letting out a satisfied moan as it popped. "So, I'll be back next year t-"

"What?"

She gave the older man an incredulous look before bringing back her irritatingly coy smirk. "I'll be back in about a year to check up on how things are going. You know, in case you change your mind about keeping him."

"I won't" he said with an air of finality.

Her smirk wavered and she gave a low bow. "It has been an honor and a privilege to speak with you, Hokage. I look forward to our next meeting."

Sarutobi didn't reply. He swiveled in his chair to look out the window where a good portion of Konoha was laid out before him. One building in particular held his attention longer than the others. It was getting late into the night. Perhaps Naruto could use a visit?

Hospital

Naruto eased into his newly made bed, placing his arms behind his head and stretching his legs out. The day had proved tiring with the seemingly unending tests Tetsuda put him through. Some he could understand, like blood work and physicals, while others seemed strange. For instance, Naruto had spent at least an hour in the sun while answering the doctor's questions. While he reveled in the light of that big ball of fire once again; however, the joy was short lived. In time, he felt the room had become too hot for comfort. It wasn't bad enough to burn him, but it was late fall and yet the sun's rays made it feel like a midsummer afternoon. If there was any upside, it was that he no longer sweated when under heat. Well, he _thought_ it was an upside, but apparently that was needed to cool off for normal people. Without it, he would just bake. Again, it wouldn't hurt him, but the discomfort was great. Now he was just happy to be back in his bed, even if it still reeked of bleach and cheap detergent. Anything was nice compared to standing in that oven-like heat.

_Knock knock_

He winced, hoping it wasn't Tetsuda with another test. _"Come in,"_ he said with some trepidation. Thankfully, it was the Hokage. Naruto let out a sigh of relief and sat up. _"Thank Kami, it's just you, Jiji."_

The Hokage quirked his brow at the remark and gave the boy a perplexed expression. "Just me?" he repeated, the confusion heavy in his voice.

The boy caught on and waved his hands about in hopes to diffuse the idea that he was insulting the elder. _"Oh, no no! I just thought you were Tetsuda-kun with another test."_

Sarutobi's confusion didn't lift as he sat at the end of the bed. "Are they too intrusive?" he asked. His face became grim and he leaned forward to whisper. "He's not hurting you in any way, is he?"

Naruto's eyes widened, which could thankfully be seen now that he had taken off his eyewear, and he held his hands up defensively. _"No… well, not really."_

"Not really?" Sarutobi's tone dripped with badly hidden anger.

"_I mean… he took some blood, and you know I hate needles,"_ the continued, hopping he would calm the older man down. _"And he had me in the sunlight for a while, which didn't really hurt… it just didn't feel good."_

The Hokage seemed to be searching Naruto's eyes for any falsehood, a task made difficult given that his pupils were tricky to find in the sea of black. Eventually his expression softened and he released a sigh. "Alright, Naruto," he said calmly. "I'm just making sure you're being looked after well."

The boy smiled and scooted closer to the other male, giving him a tight hug. _"I know, Jiji… but you're scary when you're mad…"_

Sarutobi returned the embrace and chuckled. It was the first time he'd actually laughed in days, and it felt great to feel genuine mirth again. "I know," he spoke in his usual calm manner once more. "I just worry about you, that's all. Now, I suppose this means you can go in sunlight now, right?"

"_Yeah, but…"_ Naruto visibly grimaced under his wraps. _"It's really hot after a few minutes, and I can't sweat, so I'll have to jump in a lake or something if I wanna stay cool in summer. But Tetsuda said that I should be able to leave the Hospital in a few days, so that's nice I guess."_

"I'll look into getting you something to cover you up a bit more…" he stroked his beard and gave the boy a grin. "Maybe I can see about getting you some robed like mine." That earned him the reaction he wanted as the boy jumped and looked up at him with what had to be the biggest smile he'd seen on the child for a long time.

"_Really?!"_ The excitement was evident in his voice.

Sarutobi let out another chuckle and patted the boy's head, which oddly made Naruto wince. "We'll see… Naruto?" the boy looked up at him again, eyes unreadable. "Are you sure everything's ok? You seem a little…"

"_I can hear your heart,"_ the boy answered quickly. _"If I concentrate really hard, I can hear it from across the room, but when someone touches me… I can hear it. It's really loud. Everything's been loud. The door, the pipes in the walls, the people in the other rooms, it only gets quiet when… when I eat…"_ he carefully shuffled away from the older man until their bodies no longer touched. _"I get really hungry when I hear the beat of… of someone's heart. It's really scary, Jiji. I-"_

_Knock knock_

Naruto winced with each gentle wrap at the door. "Come in," Sarutobi called. The door clicked open and Kaeru entered with a small metal case. He gave the two a deep bow and approached the bed.

"Naruto-san," he spoke in his calm monotone. "I have brought your supper. Shall I place it on your bed, or would you like me to fee it to you?"

"_I don't wanna… eat until Jiji leaves." _The Hokage was about to protest when Naruto cut him off. _"I don't like people watching me… eat that… stuff. It's weird and creepy."_ He shuddered and shook his head. _"And… and it feels weird."_

"Weird?"

"_Ask Tetsuda-kun, he did a test on me a lunch,"_ he replied with a huff.

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at the boy but shook it off. If Naruto didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't press the issue. He turned his attention to Kaeru and tilted his head to the bedside table. The other male nodded and placed the metal box next to some text books. "I see Iruka hasn't let your hospitalization keep you from homework."

Naruto groaned and rolled his theatrically. _"It's sooo boring!"_ he sighed exasperatedly. _"Why do I need to know that Konohagakure was founded by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha in eight hundred and forty six A.S. on the twenty first of March?"_

The Hokage balked at that outpour of information. Naruto sounded like he was quoting from the book "How… how did you remember all that?"

The boy shrugged. _"Dunno, I just do. I think about the information and then it just sorta pops up, like… like, did you know that Hashirama Senju was said to have control over the K…Kyubi no Yoko? Also, what's a Kyubi no Yoko?"_

The other male's eyes shot wide for a moment before he reigned himself in. The last thing he wanted was to show any shock at the mention of that demon. "It… it means Nine Tailed Fox," he respond calmly. "That is a demon that… that attacked the village some years ago." A few grim images flashed to the front of his mind from that night and he shivered. "But the Forth Hokage destroyed it."

"_Minato Namikaze,"_ Naruto added.

Sarutobi nodded and continued. "The Fox… it caused a lot of destruction that day. The village still hasn't reclaimed its population- er… amount of people that it used to. But," he looked down at the boy and put on a disingenuous smile. "We keep on, we continue to build and rebuild. Such is the Konoha way. Now, I'd say it's high time someone got some food and sleep." He stood up and arched his back, an action he regretted as another uncomfortable pop was let out. The Hokage grit his teeth as he made his way to the door. "I'll come by to visit you again tomorrow, alright?" he received a nod from t he boy who began to lean back into his bed. "Good night, Naruto."

"_G'night," _the boy called back, waving and smiling until the door finally clicked shut. With Sarutobi gone, Naruto turned his attention to the small metal box next to his bed. He grunted disapprovingly at it and turned away to face the now open window. If he could help it, he'd avoid "eating" for as long as he could; however, his aching stomach and dry mouth eventually won over his stubbornness, and he relented. He turned back around and hastily snatched the box off the table, prying off its lid and staring hungrily at the contents within. Inside the box sat four plastic blood bags filled with sheep blood from the local butchers. Naruto wasted little time tearing the first bag open and guzzling it down with fervor. The second and third bags were taken together, held in each hand and squeezed tight to the last drop. Unsatisfied, Naruto took the last bag and tried to pace himself, hoping that if he savored it, he'd have his fill. The taste was divine, sending rivets of euphoria down his body with each gulp. Sadly, he had no more time to dwell on it, as the bag went empty.

He sighed and tossed the empty plastic into the box and the box onto his table. Despite having four "servings," Naruto felt minimal satisfaction he wanted more, a lot more. Naruto wanted buckets and buckets of blood to pour into his hungry maw. He just wanted to jump at Inu and sink his newly forming teeth into-

Naruto violently shook the thoughts from his head, chastising himself for thinking of harming one of his protectors. No amount of bloodlust would make him attack someone… again. All he had to do was request more blood, then he'd find satiation. Right?

Yes, I've returned. Why the year long absence? In truth, it was due to writers block. I honestly couldn't think of anything to write the whole time. Only recently have I rediscovered a love for the written word thanks to reading some of the reviews and some encouragement from my friends. So I'm back, and I plan to finish this and my other story if it kills me. I understand if most of you feel I've taken too long and no longer wish to read this, but I plan to finish this story regardless if anyone reads it so I can at least say id did it. If those who enjoy it ever feel as though I'm slowing down, feel free to give me a fresh reminder of this AN, hopefully it'll pull my ass back into the chair and get me typing again.

~Dawning the Mask


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